Chapter 8

Lonely and Tired

"That's the last of your stuff, sis. You still didn't go shopping?" Rex asks while closing the trunk lid on my rental car and looking at my low-cut shirt.

My outfit is not quite as eye-popping as my aunt's handpicked wardrobe, but it's still sexier than what I would normally wear.

"Yeah, I just sort of stuck with the new attire while giving it a little more modesty. It's actually a little empowering every once and a while."

Secretly I'm hoping Jase will see me and have to have me.

"What happened?" he asks in exasperation.

"He asked me to stay with him," I say casually while sliding down to sit on the hood of my car.

"And?" he prompts, bemused by my phrasing.

"And I assumed we'd be staying together."

His head tilts up slightly as his lips press together in a thin line.

"Ah. So you were thinking your relationship was way up here-" he holds his hand above his head "- and he was still barely at the starting line."

"Exactly. Thank you for understanding that," I sigh out in relief.

"I get it completely, but maybe he just worried he was getting too far ahead and he didn't know if you were in the same place. Have you considered that?"

"No, because it wouldn't have dawned on him to ask me to stay, just like it never crossed my mind."

"Sorry, Sis. I really thought things would work out with this one. You normally don't let them hang around for longer than a night or two. At least you're making progress."

"Doesn't feel like progress to me." It feels like agony.

"Well it's been three days. Maybe the chill has subsided. The two of you weren't really together that long, so it shouldn't be hard for this awkward faze to end."

We weren't together that long, but it was long enough for me to worry that I was falling in love.

"I need to go get some things from my room. Am I riding back to Seminole with you?" Rex asks.

"Yeah. I'd rather not ride back alone."

He nods and then blurs away. My eyes fall on the full blood masterpiece who hasn't noticed me yet. He's leaned against his car while speaking with a general. I swear he knows the highest ranked people in the military.

"What are we looking at?" Uncle Brazen's smooth tone asks as he props up against my car beside me.

"Nothing," I say with a shrug, my eyes darting away from my full blood.

"I see," he murmurs with a smile when he catches the object of my stalking.

"Can I ask you something?"

He shrugs indifferently while turning around and propping his back on my car. His eyes fall on my mother who is speaking with a group of interrogators, and an involuntary, salacious smile falls on his chiseled face.

"Sure, kiddo," he finally says, though I've lost his attention completely.

"What's so damn special about my mother that made you wait seven hundred years?"

He coughs out a laugh, and then he shakes his head while turning to face me.

"Everything about her is special, Aralia. Did your mom tell you how we met?"

"Yeah, Dad didn't show up to her party, she cried, and you saved the day. What I don't get is why you chased her for so long, and then waited for her when she chose someone else? How can you possibly love someone that much? It's not like you didn't have other options. Believe me , I've heard the girls drooling over you," I utter with a scowl on my face.

He laughs again, his eyes rolling, and then he pulls me into his arms so that my head rests on his chest. I wrap my arms around his waist, and I stare at my mother with him as she struts from one place to the next, instructing people on what to do. She's retired, and everyone still snaps to and does as she commands.

"I don't know what you're looking for, kiddo. There wasn't one magical thing that made me love her more than I ever thought possible. I waited because I knew she would come back to me one day."

"Do you ever wish she had told you Dad was her counter from the start?" I sigh out.

"No. If I had known she was essentially chosen for someone else already, that fate somehow had a hand in her heart, then I might have forced myself to stay away before I fell in love. What your mother and I have… it's amazing. It always has been. I knew the day would come when she'd choose Hale after I saw a few counters with my own eyes. I saw how she needed your father before her savage was under control, and I saw how he needed her when his broke free. I knew I couldn't compete with that, but I also knew I'd never love anyone like I love Araya.

"Yes, there have been many, many women try to lure me away, but I never once felt tempted. That's what's so special. It's a sort of bond I only ever imagined until I fell in love with her. There's nothing she wouldn't do for me, nor I for her."

I force a tense smile, my eyes shifting back to Jase long enough to let a few more pieces of my heart break off before I return my gaze to my full blood stepfather.

"Does the fact she cured the full bloods of their sun allergy and blood thirst have anything to do with it?" I huff out, knowing I can't compete with that.

He doesn't laugh like I wanted him too. His eyes stay intensely focused on the woman he adores, seriousness and pure dedication etched on his face.

"When your mother healed me, it was completely by mistake. I had asked her to let me do something that I don't know I could have done if it had been the other way around. It proved to me she loved me a hell of a lot more than I realized. Until then, I had always thought I loved her more than she loved me.

"Her heart is bigger than it should have ever been allowed to get. I wish I could explain to you all the horrific things she went through that should have molded her into a monster. She refused to be anything but compassionate though. She would have ripped apart armies to keep me safe, and I knew I would never find anyone else to love me as she does."

I sigh out a shaky breath, and then he leans over to kiss the very top of my head.

"Was this brought about because of Jase Ericson?" he asks while turning back to see my full blood shaking hands with an admiral.

"Yes and no." Completely about Jase.

"If you want him, then get him. If you don't, then leave him alone. It's that simple."

I wish .

"Not really. He told his sister I was a headache and he was just going to ride it out . Apparently, I was an idiot for thinking he ever cared about me at all. I wish my savage would come out and lead me to my damn counter."

He winces slightly, making me feel like an ass for being so insensitive, considering my dad was my mother's counter and that's the reason why he couldn't have the woman he loved until now. Ignoring my last remark, he continues on with the original conversation.

"He may have quite a few things going on you don't know about. It doesn't mean he doesn't want to be with you. It means he's distracted. At the time in my life when I met your mother, I was completely able to dedicate all my heart, mind, and soul to her. Nothing else weighed me down. Just because you're not obsessed with each other right away, that doesn't mean you're not perfect for one another."

I'm the only one obsessed.

"I feel more for him than he does for me. When I was eighteen and close to my change, I was dating a guy who was a little more in love with Mom than me. I asked him to move in with me at my first apartment, and he said we needed to slow down. Mom told me, 'if it isn't that grab-you-in, keep-you-safe, and hold-you-forever kind of love, then it isn't worth your time.'

"I saw the love she and Dad had. I see the love you and she have. I don't agree with her on ninety percent of the things she says pertaining to me and my life, but I trust her completely with matters of the heart because she seems to know what the hell she's talking about in that area."

He smirks as though there is some sort of secret, some piece of my mother's past I'm missing.

"It was tug-of-war between your father and me for a while. Your mother figured out in the end what she wanted, but it took her to the brink of insanity to get there. Everyone is different. I agree though. If you don't find something as powerful as what we have, don't waste your time. Just don't walk away from something you do feel passionately about without giving it everything you have. Sometimes it pays off."

His smile broadens, and I look up to see my mom grinning her goofy smile and swishing her hips on her way to us.

"What's going on over here? Whispered conversations this early means there's a problem," she teases, and Uncle Brazen pulls her into his arms while bringing her heated touch to his cool one.

"I was just telling Aria to not give up on something she wants bad enough."

She smiles against his lips, her cheeks reddening under his adoring gaze, and then she becomes lost in him - the passion tipping to the ew part of the scale. I walk away, my back turning on the overly affectionate couple, and I accidentally fall prey to the pale eyes of the man who has my heart in knots.

He starts to walk toward me, but he's intercepted by another general. I turn away, my eyes trying not to burn through my hybrid contacts, and I stalk toward my Uncle Grayson.

"Tell me how to control it," I blurt out, and he jumps a little from my startling and random comment.

"Control what?"

"My gift. Mom refuses to, and you trained directly under her for centuries. Please tell me how to control it."

I need a distraction, and this is just as good as any. He frowns when I hear the sizzling of my contacts which are being dissolved, and he shakes his head while turning his attention to Jase momentarily.

"You don't need 'control' until you can call upon your gift as you please. I don't know how to make it come forth. My problem wasn't summoning it, it was using too much without understanding the consequences. You need someone who struggled summoning, and other than Rex, I don't know who else to call."

That doesn't help at all because my brother still struggles. I huff out, and then I pull out a new set of hybrid blue contacts to put in. Uncle Grayson shields me from the eyes of anyone so no one sees my little secret, and then I step back to lean against him.

"Just give it some time. It took your Aunt Angelica a while to let me in. Once she did, it connected us. Maybe Jase just has to learn to trust you first."

"Eavesdropping are we?" I muse when I realize how much better his hearing is than most hybrids - one of his many evolved talents.

"Always do when my niece looks to be hurting. It's a promise I made to your father who I loved like a brother."

I smile softly, and then I wrap my arm around his waist.

"He loved you like a brother too. So does Uncle Brazen."

He nods, smiling lightly as he reminiscences.

"Brazen is the first full blood I ever trusted. He's the first person, other than Araya, to stand up for me. He proved himself when he went against his own kind to prove my innocence once. He's not as good at interrogation as your mother, but he was good enough to save my hide."

I laugh a little, then seriousness hits me. I wish I could fucking interrogate as well as Mom. If I could, then I could find out how Jase really feels about me. Perhaps it's best I don't know.

A general steps up to call to our still slouching crew. His posture is impeccable as he shows his militant tone to us all.

"Load up. We need to get on the road. We're detouring to Cantenbury fields. Our drones spotted something we need to investigate. This is silent stalk. Brigades one through fifteen will be on this."

He walks away, and I frown. Damn it. I'm brigade fifteen. I wish I knew what brigade Jase is. He's constantly shifting teams like he owns the damn place; like Rex.

"Aria, need a ride?" one of my teammates asks as he jogs up.

"Nah, I got a car. I'll see you there," I murmur while running back.

My mother steps up and whirls me in her arms.

"It doesn't matter what time, what day, or where you are, you call me if you need me."

I pull back to see tears in her eyes as they dissolve her blue contacts, and then Rex walks up to pull her in his arms as she sobs like we're going off to die.

"You too," she whispers in his ear, and he holds her tighter to comfort her fear.

I've never seen her like this. Mom is always so badass. It's not like we haven't been in the field before.

"I love you, Mom," I sigh out, and she pulls me into her embrace with Rex before Uncle Brazen's arms wrap around us as well.

I chuckle a little for how silly we must look to the outsiders, but then we pull back and wave farewell to the mother I've rarely ever seen cry.

"What was that about?" I whisper as we get in the car.

"That was Mom hearing urgency, a little fear, and anxiety in the general's tone. We need to be careful. Mom's intuition is unparalleled."

I gas the car and squeal off of the city's pavement to slide onto the muddy streets that will carry us away. The rain starts coming down to make the slushy ground even more ridiculous.

This fucking rain will mess with our tracks.

Rex grips the oh-shit handle on my rental car like it's the only thing keeping his ass planted in the seat. I asked for the fastest thing they had, and that's what they gave me.

"I really wish Dad hadn't taught you how to drive," he grumbles under his breath, and I let a laugh escape as I shift to another gear.

I press the button on the dash to change the tire tread so the car finds better traction on the slick surface, and then we surge forth with even more speed. I'm catching up with the ones who left before us now, and it pisses me off to know I'll have to slow down and follow their more cautious speed. I can see Jase and his sister coming in behind us, and my stomach turns into a tangled mess of knots instantly.

My phone rings, and Rex puts it on speaker for me.

"Aria Banner," I answer, not having seen the number that rang in.

"Aria," Uncle Grayson says in a leery tone. "You're taking lead. You need to get up front because you're the best at spotting mines. Also, you'll be the lead tracker on this, so you'll need to have an unobstructed view."

A smile spreads to my face, and Rex grimaces while tensing up and holding on tighter.

"Got it, Unc."

"And Aria, be careful. The drones spotted something out of place, but we can't tell from the blurred images what it is."

"I'm always careful."

I smile as I end the call, and then I shift gears again while sliding out of line and surging toward the front. My boot rattles against the excited accelerator, and the engine roars louder than my adrenaline rush as we rocket past our line.

"Fuck! Why in the hell did I ride with you?" Rex gripes as he tightens his seatbelt.

"Because I drive like Hale," I joke, and he rolls his eyes.

Eyes pop open as they follow us passing by them in less than a blurring motion, and they do their best to try and keep up. It's no point though. I'm too good, too fast, and too damn in need of this thrill behind the wheel.

I look in my rearview to see Jase and Melania - his sister - are following us as we barrel past everyone, so I decide to show him who's the better driver as I take the ninety degree turn without slowing up.

Rex squeals in a girly octave when I slingshot us through the curve, and I surge forth with more power while shifting again.

"I'm going to be sick," he mumbles, his hand covering his mouth to emphasize his words.

I stifle a grin, and I look back to see Jase becoming a mere shadow amongst the torrential rainfall.

"Can you see anything?" I ask while I catapult us around another curve, the mud sloshing up as my haste digs up the road.

"A little bit of something. It seems like there's a shadow following a big ass metal thing, but the image is too blurry and I can't get the focus right. It's like looking through a streaked camera lens in the dark."

"Do you remember when we were little and you could see anything you wanted to with absolute clarity?" I ask in a near whisper.

"I do, but my powers grew. I just have to learn to control them."

"I used to be able to shift the house off its foundation by accident. Now I struggle to move pebbles with my mind. Do you ever wonder if Mom found a way to block our abilities?"

He sighs a little, and then shrugs.

"It has crossed my mind before," he says mildly, as though he's hiding something.

"Spill it, Rex. I know when you're holding back," I growl, and then I take a sharp, almost impossible turn to head south to Cantenbury.

He relaxes his body on the straightaway, and then he lets out a frustrated sigh.

"I had a horrific but blurry vision when I was fifteen. I saw men taking me from our home, probing me, torturing me until I gave them the vision they wanted. I told Mom right away, and even though I was damn close to being a man, she slept in the bed with me for at least three months. I never told her how glad I was that she was that overprotective because I wouldn't have slept at all had she not stayed in there.

"The vision came through with more clarity after that. I saw my attackers, and Mom made them look like dust when she was done with them. She took me with her so I could see with my own eyes that the monsters from my visions were ash. But I was scared after that. I worried someone might use me against her, you , Dad… anyone I loved. My gift is not very offensive, usually, but it's damn dangerous in the wrong hands. I asked her to help me find away to dilute it. She did."

Holy shit.

"Why didn't you ever tell me this before?" I huff out.

"Because… well, I did want to, but then you damn near killed me by accident one day. Mom decided until you were old enough to handle your strength, you needed to be diluted as well. On you, it worked too well."

My face turns ashen, my body fights the burn of fire and ice at once, and I stiffen to the point I almost break. I don't have that memory, and I should.

"What did I do?"

"You don't want to know this, Aria. Just know Mom did what she felt she had to."

"Damn it, Rex, tell me!"

Tears burn through my blue contacts, and he sighs out loudly while showing his slouch of defeat as he drops his tight grip on the door.

"I was sixteen and you were nine. You wanted me to swing you, and I said ' make me .' Playing around, you were going to use your gift to jerk me over and force my hands to swing you. You didn't have that sort of control though, and when you used your gift on me, it broke all the bones in my body.

"You screamed, Mom ran out, and Dad rushed blood into my mouth. For some reason, you never remembered it after that day. I asked Mom if it was her, she said no. I'm not sure what happened to erase it from your mind, but Mom decided you were too strong. The problem is, once she blocked your powers out, she couldn't figure out how to reverse it. She's hated herself for centuries. She doesn't even know how she blocked either of us. That's why Dad forced you to stay inside the compounds instead of letting you go out on field detail. He didn't want you relying on your gifts because they worried they would never surface again."

I slap the steering wheel, fury pouring out of me. How dare they keep this from me!

"I can't believe no one ever told me this. I've been thinking I was a degenerate disgrace for so long because I'm so powerless."

"You're not powerless; you're too fucking strong for your own good. You're so eager to go savage, and I'm honestly glad you never have. You have no idea how terrified I am every time my sanity dissipates and I lose control. Aria, it's not such a fucking blessing to lose yourself to the monster you have inside. It's terrifying, and when I'm savage, my visions come in by the multitudes… not to mention what I do to the minds of those around me. What if I strike the wrong person because I'm too fucking psychotic to control it?"

His voice trails off to a near whisper as he looks away, hiding the tears that have sprung to his eyes. I forget how scared he is of his own savage. I've only ever seen it a few times, and though I shouldn't get envious, I am. That power is so surreal, and I want it. I want to harness it; be the gifted hybrid everyone expected.

"But at least you save lives. Everyone expected me to be the hero Mom is, but she took that away without telling me."

"Aria-"

He stops short when we roll up on the fields. Immediately, I smell uranium, and my eyes fall on the disturbed grounds surrounding the field like a massive spider-webbed trap.

"Don't step past the first row of clovers," I caution, my personal issues dropping as I stare ahead at the scene.

Jase pulls up behind me, and he gets out to stand beside his car and phones the rest.

"Tell them there are too many landmines to drive any closer," I say, ignoring his exhausted posture.

His eyes burn into mine like he wants to say something but can't right now. I can't pretend it doesn't affect me, so I turn away and kneel to the ground to smell the gasoline imbedded in the mud.

The rain is merciless, but it hasn't had a chance to wash away everything yet. I can still read the trail.

Someone's tank was leaking, but they drove through here not too long ago. These landmines are barely three hours old. I can still smell the dirt being freshly stirred.

"We're here, but it's trapped. We can wait on a disarming team," Jase says into the phone.

"I don't suppose you could give me a boost?" I whisper to Rex.

"Hell no. Even if I thought I could throw you that far, I wouldn't risk it. You're giving my strength way too much credit," he scoffs, a little anger in his tone.

"Didn't think so," I mumble.

I turn back and walk toward Jase, ignoring the urge to give him too long of a gaze as I pass. Curiosity fills his eyes, but my stoic expression gives nothing away. I make my way all the way back to the distant woods before he finally lets his delicious voice free from his perfectly soft lips.

"What're you doing?" he asks, his curiosity obviously piqued.

I smirk, and Rex turns around with wide eyes just as the rest of the convoy starts to catch up.

"Fuck," my brother gasps, his body frozen as I start digging my toes into the ground and sprinting faster than eyes can see me, becoming nothing more than a blur. I charge toward the mines that are spread around a clear center.

Whatever is in that center is what they're protecting .

Jase's eyes shift as though he's figured out what I'm doing, but I barely catch them in a glimpse as I dig in deeper and surge forth faster. My legs burn from their overexertion and rapid speed, and the friction causes the insides of my pants to singe.

I leap as hard as I can once I get as close as safely possible, and my stomach slaps my throat as I fly through the air. My arms circle as I try to keep my body lined up, and I slap the center of the mines with a thud, while firmly planting my feet into the ground to keep from letting a momentum hop send me a fraction of the way too far off the mark.

"Damn it," Jase says under his breath while running his hands through his hair.

"Aria! You stupid, stubborn, idiotic girl!" my brother chastises, but I ignore him while kneeling down to start inspecting the ground's secrets. "Unc could have blown them up!"

"No he couldn't," I mutter, gently inspecting my small workspace. "If I'm right, and there's something worth hiding, then he would have blown it all to hell."

"There's a defusing team on the way, damn it!" Jase adds, but I resume my task, ignoring the pissed off commander.

My hands play with the dirt under me to expose the dirty little tale someone worked damn hard to conceal.

I smile when I see a silver speck hiding beneath the ground, and I continue digging until I reach the hatch not meant to be found.

"They've got an underground facility here," I murmur with a smug grin while looking up to the stark white faces.

Uncle Grayson hops out of the car the second it halts, but Jase stops him by placing his hand on his chest.

"There're landmines all over the ground here. Aria is in the center."

"How the hell did she get over there?" Unc muses, and then I see his protective eyes darkening when Jase scowls in response, giving me away without a word. "Damn it, girl!"

I just smirk before popping off the hatch's keypad and examining the mess of wires inside that are all colored black to confuse anyone who might be able to stumble upon it.

"Don't touch anything. It could be wired to explode," Jase cautions.

"It is going to explode if you mess with the wrong wire. I spent quite a few centuries as tech girl since my dad refused to let me be in the field."

"Don't!" Rex gripes, his body ready to lunge over the mines and join me so he can halt my examination.

"The defusing team will be here in a minute, Sir" a man says to Jase instead of my uncle.

"Damn it, Aria. That's an order. Don't touch it!" Jase screams, and I tilt my head curiously.

"Sorry, Lieutenant. I'm apparently a little better than you are giving me credit for. There's no one coming who will be more qualified to open this hatch any safer than I can. If I do this correctly, the mines will also be disarmed. They're wired to it. Rookie mistake," I say with a shrug.

"She's right, C… I mean, Lieutenant," Uncle Grayson huffs out. "Aria is the best at tech. She's the one who trains the field techs, and she has more years logged on this than anyone."

"I don't want her out there," Jase whispers in a scolding tone.

Good thing you're not in charge.

"Unless you feel like outranking me, this is my call," Uncle strains out, and then he walks over to the edge of the mines. "Are you sure you can do this?"

"I'm the only one who can. Create a safe perimeter just in case though."

His jaw tenses. He knows I'm right, but it's absolutely killing him.

"Don't let her do this," my aunt scolds.

"This is my call, honey. I'm sorry, but I have to trust Aria right now. Someone else could easily blow us all to hell."

"And what if she blows herself all to hell?" Jase barks.

"As I said, unless you feel like outranking me, this is my call."

Unless you feel like outranking me? What the hell does that mean?

I look up to see Jase ready to rip something apart, possibly me. I don't know what his deal is. He's so fucking confusing.

His eyes burn against me, but he starts backing away as my uncle starts pushing back the worried onlookers.

My hands feel the wires, and my mind views the black wires to be the colors they would be if this were a standard hatch, and then I reverse the order. Someone who went through this much trouble wouldn't use a standard setup, but they wouldn't want to make it too complicated because they might forget their own pattern.

Pulling out the small set of cutters I always carry, I use the silly, embarrassing song I made up years ago to guide my hands against the wires that all look the same, only I move in reverse. And of course, I sing it only in my head.

If you like turning right, cut under white, show some light. If you like the dark instead, don't yet cut red, it's not advised. If you move to the blue, don't cut into the green just beside. Black means watch your back, don't lose track, you'll go blind. Maybe the yellow's scared, but I don't care, I'll cut through it fine. Move back to the green, don't be mean, just cut it right. Finally red is last, make it fast, just move in time.

I'm proven to be a pro when the wires fall from their cut positions, and the disarmed click sounds out for everyone to hear as the hatch swings open. Gasps of relief spread across the field, and I see Jase double over to put his hands on his knees as he struggles for a breath.

I smirk as I step across the field, and the dead landmines don't explode under my feet. Rex glares at me while shaking his head, his teeth grinding furiously.

"Just wait until I tell Mom," he whispers threateningly.

"If she can keep secrets and do as she wishes, then so can I," I snark, and his eyes soften to a pout.

I walk off, and Uncle Grayson rips me up to hug me too tightly. I actually have to strain for air. I'm a highly evolved hybrid, so oxygen is optional. Though I don't actually need to breathe, it's not comfortable to go without air, and right now, Unc is making me very uncomfortable.

Jase seems to be struggling with what to do, his eyes still trembling, but he walks toward the front to join the others in the newfound passage.

"All of these darn wires are black," Aunt Angelica gasps. "How did you know which ones to cut in what order?"

I shrug indifferently, and then I join them at the entrance as several men begin descending.

"Years as Daddy's tech girl and understudy to the most brilliant minds to ever grace the United taught me a thing or two. I just applied what I learned from my teachers and Dad's philosophy for tracking to the people who designed this."

"It was still fucking stupid if you ask me," Jase murmurs under his breath as he drops to the ground instead of using the ladder.

I follow behind Rex, who is now ignoring me. The tunnel wreaks of days-old sweat, dried blood, and rotting flesh. Everyone covers their nose reflexively as they cringe in disgust.

No one speaks; all ears are perked up and listening. Guns are drawn, and everyone is on alert, ready to fight whatever army we might stumble upon.

The smell only worsens as we make our way down the long, winding tunnel. I'm almost worried that my overly sensitive sense of smell won't be able to handle it. My incredibly skilled taste is forcing the terrible concoction to settle in my mouth as well, and I can't shut them down... not now. I have to be on alert.

I'm on the verge of throwing up everything in my stomach.

"Here," Jase whispers when he suddenly appears at my side.

I look down to see the mask in his hand that he's offering to me, and I jerk it up to put it on, my senses thanking him before my lips can.

"Thanks," I murmur barely in an audible hum, my eyes becoming trapped in his.

He just nods, and then he shuffles back toward the front. I would rather just be in his arms smelling sex and candy right now. Oh that would be so, so good.

A fisted hand emerges from the front of the pack, halting our stride, and then I see my uncle disappearing into a room off to the side. My stomach tenses, my body burns with anticipation and anxiety, and I feel something inside me warning me something is wrong.

He's been gone too long. He should be back by now.

I start moving toward the front, my body bumping and sliding against the sardine-canned others, and then I feel cool hands wrapping around my waist and pulling me into their body.

I turn to meet Jase's eyes, his head shaking to tell me not to go in.

I start to disobey his meager authority, but his grip tightens. He's stronger than he should be for a full blood, considering I'm struggling. I'm faster and stronger than hybrids and full bloods both, but he's able to restrain me without a problem.

Our silent scuffle ends when I see Unc walk back out, his eyes wide, his face ashen, and his body stiff. Jase tilts his head, and I feel someone else gripping me as Jase walks over to investigate the room for himself.

He covers his mouth and nose, and his eyes tear away from whatever horrors lay hidden there as his back turns on it all together.

Rex is the one holding me back now, but I'm too strong for him. I break free to go investigate for myself, and I gasp when I see what has struck fear in the heart of my uncle.

The room opens to a massive underground facility. The seventeen-thousand square feet hold a gruesome tale of torture, pain, and death.

Bodies are everywhere - body parts rather. Blood has painted every surface I can see, and the burn of uranium isn't anywhere in the air. This was done by a gifted or one fucking strong son of a bitch.

The dead, glazed-over eyes seem to hold scars from their final visions. In all my years serving the United, I've never even heard about something this gory, not even from my mother. These bodies have been gashed in half, ripped apart, sliced in pieces, and there are hundreds of people who were massacred in this enormous underground secret.

Weapons are unused - guns still strapped to torsos or legs. What could have done this? Who would be strong enough to take down this many without allowing someone to draw their weapons?

My mother might be this strong, but I'm not sure even she could accomplish this much without letting someone get a shot off. Could there be another child of an emergent that managed to survive past puberty? Could there be another child from a mother like mine whose powers weren't blocked? Could I have been capable of something this hellacious if my mother hadn't interfered?

Chills consume me as a daunting reality comes to light. If I was strong enough to fold my brother's body by accident at the age of nine, I could have grown strong enough to do something like this. I'm almost thankful now that she did stop me from turning this strong.

"What the hell could have done this?" Melania gasps out.

She turns her head away, but I turn back and walk into the chamber of gore.

"Aria, don't," Jase softly counters, his hand sliding over mine.

"I need to look for something to see if I can find out what or who did this. We'll also need to know where the people-" or person "- who did this went next or came from."

His lips tighten, his eyes wishing they had a way to spare me this horror, but instead, he joins me at my side.

"I'm not letting you do this alone."

"You should. There is a lot of hybrid blood in here. If it gets in your mouth by accident, you could-"

"I'll be fine," he interrupts.

I pull off my mask and hand it to him.

"You're not coming with me unless you put that on," I argue, and his eyes look into mine with such a different gaze than I've seen yet.

I suppose he's surprised at the fact I'm ordering someone around who outranks me. I'm not letting him risk his life unnecessarily. I can deal with the hellacious stench, I can't deal with the possibility of him dying to spare myself some discomfort.

He smirks, and he takes the mask from me appreciatively.

"Does that mean you might actually care about me a little more than you let on?" he says, his voice muffled by the mask.

You idiot. I'm damn near close to being in love with you, not that you give a fuck.

"Just let me know if you see anything," I mumble, avoiding his question.

Suddenly I feel his hand holding mine, his grip almost too tight. I feel his desire to pull me into his arms almost burning against me.

My empathic abilities always fuck with my head, but I usually confuse someone else's emotion with mine, making it hard to cipher if I feel something myself, or if I'm feeling what they feel. But I can tell this is his desire, though it matches my own.

I release his hand instantly, wiping away the charged connection. I wish I knew how he did these things to me so I could do them to him too. Maybe then he'd be as into me as I am him.

I kneel down in front of one body, and I fight back the bile rising to my throat, its bitter taste making me all the sicker. The flesh is torn away from a body as if it was damn near filleted. The muscle has been shredded, and I swear it looks like teeth have been here.

Something ripped this hybrid apart and fed on it. Please don't let this thing be like me.

"What'd you find?" Jase asks, startling me out of my panic.

I just shake my head and walk away. The others who are strong enough to brave the horrendous scene start falling in behind us, and I walk away from Jase to steady my inner panic attack.

There's nothing stronger than my mother. That has always given me solace in the world full of fear. Now, I've seen there is something stronger, much stronger, and so ungodly vicious. Whatever this thing is, it's merciless.

If my mom finds out about it, she'll go after it alone to keep us safe. If she finds out, she'll die for nothing because she won't be strong enough to beat it.

"Damn it," Rex sighs out loudly. "What could have done this?"

"Mom can't know about this, Rex," I murmur, my eyes telling him what my lips can't.

His true hybrid blues widen in response when he understands that I think this was somehow involved with emergents - an emergent like my mother and I came from.

"Aria, you can't possibly think they missed some?" he asks in a whisper.

"Name something more powerful than our mother," I whisper back.

He shakes his head, and his lips offer nothing else. He knows I'm right, but he's terrified what will happen if anyone else pieces the puzzle together. They'll be on a mission to learn all they can about emergents. If they discover the truth, my mother and I will be slaughtered, along with the rest of our family who have harbored our secret.

I walk away, and I move into a room no one else has entered yet. The door shuts behind me, sealing me into the thick, padded room. It seems just as gruesome as the rest of the place - bodies that have been painted red with more blood than I've ever seen before. But then I gasp when I see pictures taped up all over.

There's one of me in the center. My eyes are fully violet and exposed after my father died and I cried too hard to keep the contacts intact. It was just our family there that day, so my mother and I let the tears fall freely without fear of someone seeing our secret.

Rex walks in, startling me when the door shuts behind him, and his eyes widen in a gasp just as mine did. He jerks my picture off the board and pushes it into his pocket. I see Mom's picture taped up, her eyes glowing violet, and I rip it down and hand it to him. He conceals our secret in his pocket, and my eyes continue to follow the trail of violet eyes.

My gaze falls on one in particular that makes me sick. It's Kellan Maverick - dirty and grizzly with his bushy beard and matted hair - shortly after he eluded the United.

He's like me - his violet eyes shining for all to see in the glow of the light - the escaped Stringham prisoner suspected to have leveled compounds, cities, and so much more.

I rip it down to hand to my brother as well. If they link him to an emergent, they'll never trust my mother or me.

Together, we start ripping down all the violet-eyed pictures and shoving them away. The fewer people who ask questions about emergents, the better.

"This is bad… really fucking bad," Rex whispers so low I barely hear him even though this room is obviously soundproofed.

"This is worse than bad. The unaligned are piecing the puzzle together. They know who we are, damn it. What happens if they tell the United?" I panic, and his hand tightens on mine.

"Then we'll all disappear. I won't let anything happen to you," Rex says softly, his brotherly protectiveness surging forth.

His hands shake slightly, and I'm worried what's about to happen. I jerk him around so that his eyes meet mine. I sigh in relief when I see his pupils normal, but then we feel an explosion quaking the floor. The ceiling above us shifts as dirt falls through the instant cracks.

The door falls off, opening us up to the next room as the walls around us begin to crumble and crack.

"Get the fuck out! It's going to collapse!" Jase orders, and suddenly I feel him beside me, his speed too fast for a normal full blood.

He grabs my hand to jerk me away from the crumbling ceiling. The metal screams out while folding and buckling to the weight of the surface. Rex rushes to the front, and then the tunnel collapses, shutting off our way out.

"Damn it! Uncle!" Rex prompts.

"Working on it," Uncle Grayson says while everyone falls in behind him.

The ceiling is still folding and debris still litters the underground world as we impatiently wait.

He injects himself with olophine to keep his savage from breaking free, and then he holds his hands out to incinerate the debris too fast for anyone to see a spark. Aunt Angelica flips through the crowd, and she uses her gift to force a new opening for us to climb up.

Jase grabs me at my waist, and he launches me through the opening before popping up beside me almost just as quick. He takes my hand again, and I screech as a blast explodes beside us - grass and dirt slinging up with the flakes of uranium.

"Take out their tanks!" Jase yells to my uncle, and he does as instructed… per the usual around Jase.

I swear he's the captain and my uncle is the lieutenant.

I feel a striking against my side, and I scream out as blood gushes from me.

"Fuck," Jase growls while scooping me up and pressing me to his body.

"Aria!" Rex screams, and I shiver upon hearing his tone.

He was too close to savage earlier. I should have made him take olophine. Seeing me hit, bleeding profusely, and hundreds of unaligned mercenaries rushing toward us has pushed him to the breaking point.

"Jase, put me down now!" I instruct, my body tingling with fear of what's about to come.

"Not a fucking chance," he scoffs while holding me to him and dodging shots.

I summon up my strength as I see my brother's pupils pulse, change, and take over his hybrid blues, turning them almost black.

Damn it.

I almost say a prayer, begging for my gift to work. It does, and Jase's body is stripped from mine as I fling him away. I fall to the ground, crying out in pain as I thud against the muddy yet unforgiving ground.

Rex walks through bullets, his phase three savage forcing his body to be invincible as bullets shatter against him. He'll kill every full blood here... including Jase. Almost all forgotten children lose their minds around full bloods when they're in their savage, and they lose all restraint.

"Full bloods get out now!" I scream, and their pale eyes widen as they start running from the savage who can't control his burning hatred.

Jase's ignores my plead and tries to come for me again when I struggle to stand. I manage to use my gift to force him back once more, and then I try to stand just as Uncle Grayson scoops me up.

"This is about to get bad," he mumbles under his breath as Rex holds out his hands in front of him, forcing his power to flow through his fingertips.

Unaligned members begin screaming in pain as my brother fucks their heads up. His gift of insight becomes an offensive weapon as he enters their minds and forces them to see things that don't exist. Tormenting, vivid images I've only ever heard of are swirling through their minds, burning up their brain with its unfathomably dark force.

He's too strong. Everyone he feels a threat from will die, and so will Jase if I don't think of a way to stop him without provoking his savage into believing I too am a threat.

My aunt uses her gift to force back our full blood companions even farther to keep Rex from inadvertently striking one of them.

Then I see Melania, her pale eyes burning and changing to a hybrid blue as she walks toward my brother. I've seen that gravitational pull before. I've heard about it and seen it actually, but I've never felt it.

But she's full blood. She can't… what the hell? How the fuck did her eyes change?

A gargling burst of screams exude from the throats of the falling, and then Rex's body stiffens, his head turning to meet the entranced beauty stalking toward him. Melania's parted lips gasp as the first bit of eye contact sends her body to an internal blaze.

He moves toward her, his new mission being only her - to touch her, be with her.

"Melania, you have to snap out of it," Aunt Angelica urges. "You have to steer him away from here, keep the others safe. Keep your brother safe," she prompts.

Melania isn't just a secret hybrid, she's a gifted hybrid… a strong gifted hybrid if my brother is her counter.

My eyes move to find Jase, my heart wondering if he's secretly a hybrid as well, but I can't find him. Shit. He can't be. He's too cold to the touch. I've felt his chill, seen his glowing night eyes. But how is Melania his sister then?

"Get him out of here," Aunt Angelica says again, and Melania's sound mind returns slightly as her lips find my brother's for the first time.

He wraps her up in his strong arms. Her golden hair becomes tangled in his hands, and her legs rise to wrap around his waist.

And he thought seeing my future was ew.

I can see her whispering in his ear, and he starts walking away, his body holding her tightly to him. She's leading him away to offer our people safety, and she's doing a damn good job of it too.

With one final rush of power falling from our gifted fleet - excluding me - the few remaining Unaligned soldiers fall lifelessly to the ground.

"What the fuck was that?" I blare to Uncle Grayson when Jase seems to be hiding.

"Melania is hybrid. She's a level seven," he says with a shrug. "I found out shortly after meeting her that day at brunch."

"She had full blood eyes," I object.

"She was adopted, Aria. We didn't know it until the forgotten started being adopted, but when loved and cared for by another breed, our eyes camouflage. Some forgotten children who were adopted by humans were even told to have green or brown eyes. Her body was our temperature though. How did you miss that?"

I never touched her. I never even shook her hand.

Jase walks up now, after having avoided my outburst intended for him.

"What the hell?" I growl while throwing a pebble at him that explodes upon impacting his hard body, not fazing him in the least.

Stupid... I know. I should throw a damn uranium grenade at him right now.

He shrugs as he walks up, dusting the rock debris from his chest.

"I sure as hell didn't want to see my sister making out with her counter. That's a little gross," he mumbles, but his eyes seem to be holding a secret - even more so than usual.

"Why didn't you mention she was a forgotten?" I gripe.

"I didn't find my sister's lineage to be of pertinent information. I honestly forget she's adopted because I was just two when she came along," he says, feigning innocence.

My brother finally feels that connection. He finally has that void filled. The only person I want is Jase, and he doesn't even think enough about me to mention his damn sister is a hybrid.

"I would have told you eventually, but we haven't had very many deep discussions. The deepest you went was goodbye ," Jase adds with a wounded tone. "The rest of the time, you cut me out of your thoughts. You say what I want to hear, or what you think I want to hear rather. If you can't be real with me, then how can you expect that from me?"

Asshole. I'm real. I just don't like having someone rip me apart after I give them a piece of myself.

"Forget it. It's not important now anyway. I knew I was only ever a small blip on your radar."

He jerks my hand in his, his cool touch burning me to my core.

"Really?" he scolds. "A small blip? All I did was ask you to stay with me. What the fuck is your psychotic problem?"

"The problem is I had already assumed I was staying. If you don't understand what that means, then you've never seen the connection I'm looking for. We shouldn't be on two separate pages. I won't settle for less, and neither should you."

"You want your counter," he almost says in a whisper with a painful wince.

"I don't have a savage which means I don't have a counter. I should have stuck to what I knew. Fucking and leaving instead of wasting my span getting played. I'm too old for games." Even though I don't really have a span. I'm actually immortal just like you, you stupid full blood idiot.

His lips move to speak, but my uncle walks up to interrupt the argument in play.

"We need to get moving. The dark isn't far behind now, and the Unaligned will probably be sending a crew to come collect their fallen and investigate their underground fiasco… if they can get to it."

Jase exhales loudly, and then he drops my hand while nodding.

"You're right, Captain. We'll make camp in the Strogan territory. It's not far from here, and it's behind our United walls," Jase asserts, and then he walks off.

"Why do you take orders from him? You know you outrank him, right?" I growl while crossing my arms over my chest and glaring at the platinum-blond-haired hybrid.

"Because he's usually right about stuff. It's not an order - it's a suggestion."

He laughs lightly, but I just walk away to head back to my car... solo.

"Well, I suppose this is a little stupid to ask, but can I ride with you now, since your brother has gone off into the abyss?" a timid voice asks, and I turn to see a somewhat attractive brunette hybrid male staring at me.

"Sure," I huff, and I swear that fool clicks his heels together upon hearing my consent.

"Think they'll be okay?" I ask Aunt Angelica, my eyes pointing in the direction my brother and Melania went.

"I've sent a car to follow them at a safe distance. If anything goes wrong, we'll hear about it. In phase three, it could take him several days to come down. Don't worry though. He's got someone taking care of him this time," she says while patting my shoulder.

I just nod, and then I join the guy undressing me with his eyes as I strap my seatbelt down. He leans over to be almost touching me, the heat of his hybrid breath finding my skin, and I roll my eyes.

"You'll want to buckle up."

"I'm a big boy. I'm not afraid of a little wreck," he says, his voice trying to sound seductive.

Playtime.

"Your choice," I say with a daring grin.

Jase glowers into the car as he climbs behind his wheel. A guy joins him, though I'm sure it's not for the same reasons this drooling creep has attained my passenger seat.

I smirk as I slam the car in reverse, and the guy squeals like a terrified girl as it thrusts him forward. Jase stifles a grin when he sees my menacing eyes staring straight ahead as my car barrels backwards. I sling the vehicle around perfectly to face straight, and then I slam it into gear to charge forward.

I try not to laugh as the guy beside me shrivels up in a ball. His ferociously trembling hands rattle the seatbelt against the buckle as he fumbles it around in his glued back state. I take a sharp curve without slowing, and he slams his head into the glass, almost breaking it.

Next time, find a girl who can't make you cry.