What was the vampires ultimate goal? he wondered. Why was he using Tucker like this? Why wasnt he claiming his throne now? And did Tucker care?
The more distance he placed between himself and Mary Ann, the more the answer solidified in his mind. No. He didnt care. He would do what he was told.
THE GOBLIN POISON SAVAGED Aden, turning his blood to lava, his organs to ash and his skin into one giant welt. He burned, he itched, he vomited thick black goo over and over again. Thank God hed convinced Victoria to leave him. Shed protested, but hed done the smiling, Im fine thing and managed to convince her all was well.
Been here, done this, he thought weakly, though hed never experienced a reaction to this degree. Yeah, this was worse than any other corpse poisoning hed endured. This one even affected the souls. They were moaning in his head, sometimes screaming, always incoherent.
Except for Elijah. Death, the psychic shouted. Blood. So much blood. She dies. We cant let her die.
Who? The word was like acid in his throat.
He dies, too. So much death.
Who dies? he demanded more insistently.
Elijah continued as if he hadnt heard Adens questions. Maybe he hadnt. Maybe he simply didnt know. No. NO! They all die. All of them. War. Stop the war. We have to stop the war.
What war? If that was a prediction
Through it all, Thomass ghost remained glued to Adens side, pacing, yelling, blaming. He wanted to leave, he said. His family would be looking for him, and would find out what had happened. And when that happened, Aden would finally know true suffering. Blah, blah, blah.
A-Aden. You okay, man?
It was still hard to distinguish real from the sea of noise, but he was still getting better at it, and he knew that someone was now in the room with him. His heavy lashes parted, and through a misty haze he saw Shannon standing at the side of his bed.
Can I g-get you anything? Shannon reached out and felt Adens forehead.
The moment of contact, Adens entire body jolted with a surge of electricity, and he lost his hold on his own reality. His conscious mind shot from him into his friend, and he was suddenly seeing the world through Shannons eyes. Shocking, weird. Lying on the bed one second, standing the next. Pain still coursed through him, and he groaned.
His stomach rebelled at the new upright position, forcing him to hunch over and vomit. Again. Thankfully, someone had left a small metal trashcan here. Dan, maybe. Aden thought he remembered the guy checking on him a few times.
Out, he managed to croak to Caleb. He wanted out of Shannons body.
The only reply was another moan.
Usually the soul had control. Caleb decided who to possess and when. Sometimes even Aden had control. Caleb might not want to possess someone but if Aden focused hard enough, he could do it. This time, neither of them had control, but theyd still done it.
He tried to step from the body, as hed done with all the others, but something kept him leashed, tethered there, unable to move. Still. Over and over he tried. Finally, weak, exhausted, hurting worse, he gave up and fell back on the bed. He couldnt hear Shannons thoughts, so he probably had control of Shannons mind, too. Which meant his friend would not remember this.
He hoped.
God, what was he going to do?
However long he sprawled there, writhing, he didnt know. Time was immeasurable, endless. Until the true fun began.
Aden lost his hold on Shannons reality, too, and when he next opened his eyes, he found himself in the body of a little boy. Shannon, he realized, as he studied the dark color of his arm. A younger version of Shannon. He hadnt lost Shannons reality, after all.
Even if he hadnt noticed the physical differences, he would have known. He sensed the truth, deep inside. Hed just time-traveledinto Shannons past.
That shouldnt be possible, not without Eve and certainly not with someone elses life. Always before Aden had traveled back into his own life. Now he was seeing and feeling what Shannon was seeing and feeling. The physical pain, at least, was gone, and the souls were quiet rather than frenzied.
He sat on a swing, rocking back and forth, tiny sandaled feet pushing at the gravel. His little hands gripped the metal links at his sides. The sun glowed brightly, his only friend.
Hey, Sh-Sh-Shannon, a kid taunted from a few feet away. Several other kids were clustered around him, laughing. They were outside a school, Aden instinctively knew, and at recess.
There was a slide, a merry-go-round and a jungle gym, but none of the boys seemed to care about those things. They were focused completely on Shannon.
My mom says youre so weird because your mom is white and your dad is black, the tallest boy said, chucking a rock in his direction.
The stone slammed into Shannons stomach, stinging. He kept his gaze to the ground. Ignore them, and theyll go away, his mom always said. But he knew they wouldnt. They never did. Unless Ms. Snodgrass noticed and yelled, but she was busy picking the grass out of Karen Fishers hair, so hed have better luck wishing on a star.
Another rock hit Shannon, in the leg this time. He felt the sting, but again, he gave no reaction.
You have a girls name, Stutter, you know that?
More laughter had him cringing inside. Not that hed ever let them know it.
Aden wanted to jump up, to pound those kids into the dirt, even young as they were. And he could have. He was still in control of the body. But to change the past was to change the future, and not always for the better. Actually, never for the better. So he sat there, awash in Shannons embarrassment and abject sense of loneliness, hoping thats what Shannon had done.
But then the scene shifted, the playground fading and red brick walls closing in around him. Graffiti covered those walls, and in the distance, he heard a police siren wailing.
Smoke wafted in his face, and he coughed. He waved a hand in front of his nose, only then noticing the cigarette resting in his other hand.
So? someone said. What do you think?
Aden focused. A boy stood just in front of him. Probably fourteen or fifteen, and he was smoking, too. Like Shannon, he was black, though his skin was darker, and his eyes were brown.
He was cute, Shannon thought, though not exactly his type; still, theyd been secretly dating for three weeks. What made Tyler so appealing was the fact that he was the first boy Shannon knew who admitted, freely, that he liked other boys.
Most people were accepting of him. Some were not, like Tylers dad, and he often sported bruises. But still Tyler didnt try to hide the fact that he was gay, or that he had a feminine side, was even proud of it, from his lip-glossed mouth to his too-tight pink T-shirt to his red-painted toenails.
Shannon still hadnt told anyone about his own preferences. His dad was clueless, thank God, but his momshe must have suspected. Flighty as she was, she kept introducing him to girls and then questioning him mercilessly. What did he think of them? Why wouldnt he ask them out?
Earth to Shannon, Tyler said with a laugh. Are you listening to me?
Uh, sorry. Whatd you say?
Tylers amusement faded in a blink. Lookit. Like Ive told you a million times already, I said Im tired of sneaking around. Im not gonna let you pretend you dont know what Im talking about this time, either. So either you like me or you dont. Okay? So which is it?
I Aden quickly shut his mouth. He didnt know how Shannon had replied, only felt the panic surging through the body.
Say something!
II And then it didnt matter. The scene shifted again, and this time he was standing in the center of an outdoor basketball court. Sweaty boys were all around him, slapping him on the back, telling him what a good job hed done.
On the ground in front of them was an unconscious boy. Tyler. He recognized Tylers face, even though it was swollen, bloody and battered. Shannons hands were throbbing. Aden studied them. The skin on his knuckles was ripped to shreds. By teeth. By Tylers teeth.
He had beaten Tyler? Why?
Guilt and shame bombarded him. Remorse. Sorrow. Self-loathing.
The scene shifted yet again, the emotions falling away like leaves on a tree. Now he was inside a home, sitting on a couch. Pictures abounded. Of him. Of an older black man and a white woman. His parents, he thought.
His cheeks itched, so he reached up with a shaky hand to wipe at them. They were warm and wet. With tears? Someone was in front of him, pacing, screaming. Because Shannon had beaten Tyler?
No, he realized, as Shannons thoughts and feelings sank into his awareness. Because Shannon had finally told his parents the truth. He was gay. He hated what hed done to Tyler. He wished he could go back, stop himself from treating his boyfriend that way, as if he were trash. As if he were something shameful.
On and on his father screamed. This was wrong. This was a sin. His mother even joined him, crying hysterically about how embarrassed she was. Why couldnt he be normal?
He and Shannon were so much more alike than Aden had ever realized. Hed been called a freak his entire life, rejected by his parents, tossed throughout the system, unwanted by anyone. Trash. Shameful.
Shannon? The male voice called out from a long dark tunnel, and then someone was shaking him. Youre sick, too?
Tugged back to the present, Aden blinked open his eyestoo bright, burning, tears formingand found himself inside his bedroom, still on the bed, once again writhing in pain, the souls loud in his head. Dan was staring down at him, frowning with concern.
Youre burning up. His sigh wafted over Adens face, and even that hurt. That means whatever Aden has is contagious. Dan looked around. Wheres Aden? Do you need a doctor?
Several seconds passed while Aden groggily waded through the facts. He was still inside Shannons body, and Dan wanted to know where Aden was. No, he managed to croak. Adensfine. At school. Ill be fine, too. Then he closed his eyes again and rolled to his side. Please, go.
All right, I will, but get some rest. Ill check on you in a bit and bring you some of Megs chicken noodle soup. Meg. His sweet, beautiful wife. Footsteps sounded, a door creaked open, closed.
So many deaths, Elijah moaned.
Dear God, not that again. The psychic said something else, but another voice soon blended with his, claiming Adens attention. A females voice.
Shannon? she said. Wheres Aden?
Victoria, he thought. Once again he forced his eyes to open. The lights had been turned off and the curtains closed, so the room was cast into welcome darkness. He flopped to his back. Like Dan, Victoria stood at the side of the bed, staring down at him.
Thomas was beside her, watching, listening.
When she reached out, Aden scrambled backward. No touching.
Hurt clouded her expression as her arm fell to his side. Why? Whats wrong?
Im Aden. Its Aden. Trapped. If she touched him, would he possess her body, as well, taking Shannon with him? He hadnt with Dan, and he wanted her hands on himalwaysbut he wasnt willing to risk it.
First, she appeared confused, then frightened. I knew it! I never should have left you. I knew you were sick, I just, I wanted you to rest and I was afraid you wouldnt if I stayed, and oh, God, now Im babbling. Im so sorry. Ill get Mary Ann. Yes? Ill have to leave you again, but only for a moment.
Mary Ann. Perfect. She muted abilities. Yes. Maybe, just maybe, her presence would force him out of Shannons body. If not
God. Hed be stuck. Forever.
MARY ANN SNUGGLED against the warm, softstrangely largeheating pad in her bed. Shed never slept this deeply or this peacefully before. Maybe because this was the first real sleep shed had in what seemed forever, so her body had needed to do something drastic. Or maybe because this just might be her very last sleep.
No. Wait. That kind of thinking didnt make any sense. She would have been scared, up all night tossing and turning, and wondering if she really was a Drainer, if Riley was done with her, if the witches were now coming after her.
Now the tossing and the turning began. What was she going to do? How was she going to Wait again. No matter where she moved, the heating pad remained pressed into her side. How odd. Even odder, she didnt own a heating blanket. Did she? Her eyelashes fluttered open.
There was a big, black wolf in her bed.
Mary Ann yelped in surprise, heartbeat speeding out of control.
Shh. Its me. Its okay.
The words reverberated inside her head, deep and husky and familiar. Riley? His name was more a shout than shed intended. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and peered over at him. The lights were off, and the sun hadnt yet risen all the way, so details were hazy.
The wolf was stretched out beside her, dark fur gleaming and green eyes bright.
Riley, she said, a statement of fact this time.
The one and only.
What are you doing here? More importantly, did she look like a mess? She scanned herself. She wore a blue tank, and her covers bunched at her waist, shielding her lower bodyboy shorts and bare legsfrom his view. She ran her hand through her hair. A few tangles, but nothing too terrible.
You might be a Drainer, and that witch, Marie, suspects it. No way youre sleeping alone again.
He cared, then. He still cared. And hed said might be a Drainer, which was an improvement from their last conversation when hed baldly stated, Youre going to kill me. Her lips curled up at the corners. So youve been here all night? Protecting her.
Yep. Came back right after I escorted Aden and Victoria home.
Im glad. And thank you.
My pleasure.
Their gazes met, and for a heated moment, he was watching her as he had in the very beginning, before the witches and the feeding, as if she were important, as if she mattered more than anything else in the world. A girl could get used to that.