Chapter

Mom sits back, soaking in everything I've told her in the past two hours. I started at the beginning, and finally, I've caught up with the present. Uncle Brazen grips his head as though it has an ache to match mine.

"Another emergent hybrid. Amazing. I thought I was the only one to survive past puberty until recently. I heard about the experiments. I can't believe you didn't tell me."

I sigh out, trying not to reveal my pain.

"I didn't want you going after them alone. How did you find out?"

She shrugs. "Simple. I hacked Rex's computer. He always did like logging everything. I told him that was dangerous, and I knew the two of you were hiding things."

"Hey," Rex growls. "Stay out of my computer."

She winks at him, and then she looks at Kellan before taking notice of the fact I don't want him touching me.

"If the two of you are counters, then you shouldn't be able to keep your hands off each other so easily," she mutters, scrutiny in her gaze.

"It's not easy," Kellan huffs, pouting a little. "My heat hurts her head worse though. She's burning up all the time, and now she has the craving to-"

The door swings open, making Kellan stop short as Jase and Melania join us. Rex smiles too big for his face while scooping her up and spinning her around, both of them celebrating our win today.

Jase walks over, smiling as he plops down on the other side of me, his arm draping around my shoulders as he relieves me of my pain. I lean into him, soaking up his chill as I fight the urge to bite him.

His right eyebrow goes into an arch as one side of his mouth cocks up in a grin.

Stupid blabbermouth mind!

He stifles a laugh, and Kellan groans while standing up, rubbing his face as he does so.

"Any idea what's going on?" Kellan asks my full blood stepfather.

"Go back to the part you were saying just before Commander Eric-"

"Jase," Jase interrupts, making sure my stepdad doesn't feel so formal around him.

Uncle Brazen smiles, nodding slightly, and then turns back to Kellan to finish what he was saying. "Before Jase got here."

"She's hot all the time and she craves to be somewhere cold. She's been wanting to go north. I think we're going to leave tomorrow, get away for a few days, unless she's changed her mind."

"A month," I add, pulling out my paper for vacation leave. "Here." I hand them to Jase. "They need your approval."

He frowns, but before he can say anything, Uncle Brazen interrupts. "Go back. You're burning up and you want to go north? Care to fill us in a little better?"

I shrug, leaning into Jase more while contemplating what it would be like if we had gone away the way we once planned. Would we be here, broken and confused?

"Sure," I murmur before Jase can acknowledge my silent question. "I feel like that's where I'm supposed to go. There's a cavern up there, and though I've never seen it, I feel desperate to go there. It's weird, but it aches so much to be here, and it feels so good when I think about leaving."

Mom and Uncle Brazen exchange a horrified look, and Jase leans up, all else forgotten as he prompts them to fill us in.

"What?"

Uncle Brazen pulls out his phone, ignoring Jase as a touch of panic begins to spread.

"Corbin, hey, it's me. Have you got the kids situated again?"

"Yeah, they're staying with your mom and dad, though I don't like it. They're not strong enough to keep them safe," Corbin says, sounding normal instead of arrogant for once.

"It's temporary. I need you to do me a favor."

"Sure."

"I need a detoxifier right now. The sooner the better."

"O...kay... I can have one to you in less than thirty minutes. How much does the affected person weigh?"

He shakes his head, acting as if he's trying to free something terrible from his mind.

"It's Aria, and judging by the time frame, they used a hybrid. Make it a double dose."

"Fuck! I'll be there in twenty instead."

Uncle Brazen drops the phone, and Jase's grip tightens on me.

"Brazen, what the hell is going on?" Jase demands, panic now in his eyes.

Kellan comes to sit back down beside me, careful not to touch me and provoke the pain Jase is taking away.

"It's a calling," Uncle Brazen says in a hushed, cryptic whisper.

Jase goes pale, Kellan too. I'm just confused.

"A what?" I ask, feeling Jase's grip get tighter, almost painfully so.

He loosens his hold the second he hears my inner pronouncement of pain, and then he kisses my forehead, his chilled breath bringing me butterflies and pleasure.

"A calling? Who would call a hybrid and why?" Melania interjects when everyone ignores my question.

"Because they want her blood. They're after her," Mom says, her mouth dry as Uncle Brazen goes to pull her into his arms.

"What the hell is a calling?" I bark, not backing down from getting answers.

Uncle Brazen's eyes soften as they fall on me, and he gently begins explaining. "As a means of getting a full blood to change them against their will, humans have been known to ingest our blood, making it impossible to deny the bite until their digestive systems filtered out the toxins.

"Though it usually took about a week to fully be rid of it, the full bloods were crazy for months after if they never tasted the vein that called to them. It was dangerous and highly illegal, but some humans were desperate. They didn't believe that only those with a certain gene could be changed. They risked infection - turning into a monster - in order to gain immortality.

"During the new hybrid wars, Ty had a problem with some blood runners. He needed them out of the picture. He also needed us to be distracted. In an effort to kill both birds with one stone, he took their blood, and he spiked the meat grinders in a compound. We had to tranquilize all the full bloods affected, and then we had to lock them in solitude for months.

"After we realized someone could use this against us as a mass attack, Hale and I worked on a detoxifier to put an end to the suffering immediately, as opposed to letting it run its course. It was a huge deal that earned us both medals of all sorts.

"Hybrids don't digest. They turn food, water, blood... everything into energy, recyclable energy. It should burn up quicker, making you feel the pain for a shorter period of time, but during our research, we found that some ungifted hybrids are able to store different things within their bodies, saving it. Blood for instance. Some of the hybrids were able to ingest blood and store it in a special lining of their stomach, saving it for a time when they would need it. This stems from their human side, the side they're most in contact with - hence the ungifted rank.

"A human's body is complex, and it will do more than you know in an effort to survive. As life evolved, so did their bodies, allowing them to compartmentalize things in their minds and in their bodies. We learned some ungifted hybrids could store blood up to a year, making them twice as dangerous to us. We also prayed no one else would ever find out. Apparently someone has.

"If you've been dealing with this for over two weeks, it's amazing you're still lucid at all. You should be delusional, feverish, painfully needing the contact of the one calling for you. In all honesty, you shouldn't have been able to stay here."

"She went crazy," Kellan says, staring at me with pain in his eyes. "It was the day she took my blood."

Mom sighs out, wiping a tear from under her exposed violet eyes she'll never again have to cover.

"That probably brought her back. Our blood has so many healing properties. Though the other side effects alone should have driven her mad."

"I take away all the pain," Jase murmurs, kissing my forehead. "Had I known how severe it's been this whole time, I probably wouldn't have let her go."

And that's why I can't get over him. He won't let me let him go.

"Never will," he murmurs softly, his hand sliding into my hair.

"After she gets detoxified," Uncle Brazen continues, "she'll need to stay inactive for at least two days."

"Inactive?" Kellan asks, seeming confused for a change.

Uncle Brazen squirms uncomfortably, clearing his throat and looking to Mom for help. Then it dawns on me.

"Ah. Sexually inactive," Rex says, reading Uncle Brazen just as I did.

Kellan tightens his lips, nodding after. "I need to go grab a drink. Anyone else need anything?"

"Plenty of liquor," Uncle Brazen mumbles, coming to feel my forehead. As soon as Kellan is gone, my stepfather makes an observation. "It's amazing. You've brought her temperature down in no time. It will take at least two days for the detoxifier to break the symptoms. It'll be hard on her body for those two days. Can you try to touch her as much as possible?" he asks, looking at Jase.

My mind goes erotically awry with several dreams all colliding at once. Touching me as much as possible? Two days in his arms?

Jase looks at me, reminding me he can hear every-damn-thing I'm thinking. "I think I can handle that," he murmurs, smiling directly after.

Mmm.

He smiles bigger, leaning over to kiss me lightly on the side of the lips, and then Mom walks over, gauging our closeness as she sits down beside me.

"Can I talk to Aralia alone please?" she asks, looking at everyone still in the room.

Rex comes over and kisses my head, and then he and Melania disappear out the door. Jase kisses my hand before looking up to meet my Uncle Brazen's eyes.

"I'll go with you to meet Corbin. You can be the one to tell Kellan about the new sleeping arrangement tonight," Jase chirps, smiling and laughing with my stepfather as he stands.

He leans over and blows his icy breath against my head to leave me with some relief in his wake. I still feel the pain almost instantly when his touch is lost, and he frowns while making my mother's request happen, following my aunt and uncle out the door with my stepdad on his heels.

"You love him," she says as soon as the door closes.

Araya Crush has always gone straight for the jugular. No surprise she doesn't hold back right now.

"That's nothing new. I've told you that before, but it's not like I can be with him. Kellan is my counter. Jase is just the full blood I fell in love with first."

She frowns, seeming to understand my little dilemma, considering her own issues in the past.

"You don't love Kellan?"

"No," I groan, covering my face with my hands. "I wish I could. I'm sure I will when we bond, but it's... it's just... I feel the draw, but that's it. Everything else is sexually charged. There's no love. He's trying so hard, but I don't think he even knows what love is."

She pulls me to her, offering me her motherly embrace as my tears fall to sizzle against her shirt.

"It'll happen, Aralia. But you don't have to be with anyone you don't want to be. Counters aren't meant to keep you from being happy. They're meant to make you happy."

I'm not happy though. I feel obligated, weighted, bound... but not happy.

"How did you do it?" I ask, curious. "I mean, you fell in love with Dad and Uncle Brazen. Was that not fucked up?"

She laughs, tears staining her eyes as she nods. "Definitely fucked up. When I met Hale Banner, I thought he was an arrogant hybrid son of a bitch. Ten minutes later, I was swooning and desperate to be in his arms. I thought I was going crazy.

"I loved him. Heart, mind, soul, body... I loved him with everything I had to offer. Then he hurt me. Though your father had the best of intentions, he hurt me. I didn't know at the time he was trying to save my life, and I honestly thought he didn't love me. I didn't want to move on, didn't think I could.

"Then I met Brazen. He was.... damn, he was special. Still is. He pieced me back together the way I never thought anyone could. I fell in love, and I fell hard. Had your father not come back into my life, I would have stayed with Brazen.

"But Hale did come back, and as much as I loved Brazen, I still loved Hale more. I didn't think I'd survive the end of his span, but Hale was amazing. He and Brazen became best friends over the years, and he loved me so much that he wanted Brazen to pick me up as soon as he could. Hale knew his death would destroy me, and it damn near did."

I blink back tears, soaking in all of her words as she wipes her eyes.

"I didn't know you were struggling that much. Why didn't you tell me? I could have been there for you. Rex too," I murmur, feeling guilty.

She kisses my forehead, her hybrid heat starting to hurt me. I ignore the pain, wishing I could shut down everything and reboot my system.

"I'm your mother. It's not your job to worry about me, and you had your own pain to suffer through. And, I had Brazen. He was a friend, not a lover at that time. He sat up with me, let me cry my terrible tears. He comforted me for so long, and then one day, the grief lessened. Now I love him so much more than I did before.

"I think the universe knew I'd need someone when my counter was gone. I wasn't designed like a normal hybrid, so I was given two very different but phenomenal men for the two very different sections of my life. Maybe the same is true for you."

I sigh, thinking about how much crazier my life is than hers was.

"The problem is, Kellan is immortal. Just like you. Just like me. There's no place for Jase."

She breathes in a deep breath of realization, absorbing the depth of my turmoil. Destined to be with a man I don't yet love, and in love with a man I'm not meant to be with. It's fu-

"It's fucked up," my mother says, finishing my thought for me and making me almost laugh bitterly. "But, Kellan has gone savage, and he will go savage again. The bond will form then, and you'll be unfathomably drawn to him in a way that will make your mind blow. It's up to you how to treat Jase in the meantime. I realize that will be hard, considering how much you need him right now, but in two days, you'll be free to make such a grave decision."

I don't even want to think about it.

"When I'm touching Jase, I don't even think about Kellan as anything other than just a hybrid. It's so confusing because of how much I love-"

The door opens, revealing a wide-eyed Corbin as he rushes toward us, stumbling over his own feet in his haste.

"Where's Brazen?" he asks, coming to stand before us while dumping the contents of his satchel.

"Right here," Uncle Brazen says while returning with Jase. "We went to meet you at the entrance, but we must have missed you. We had to stop by Simone's room. She was working with Jase's blood to try and find a cure for Aria. We wanted her to know it wasn't necessary."

Fury surges the second Simone's name is mentioned. She went after Jase. How dare she.

"And Kellan," he murmurs, tilting his head as he studies me.

I completely misplaced that bit of information. It doesn't piss me off as badly though.

"I wonder why," Jase says with a devious smirk, confusing everyone else in the room.

"Who are you talking to?" Mom grumbles, annoyed by the odd actions of the sweet full blood.

"Me," I murmur softly, looking back at her as Corbin hands me a large flask.

I start opening it, trying to peer inside the tiny hole, but he puts his hand over it quickly.

"Trust me. There are two things you don't want to do: see it or smell it. Just turn it up and gulp it quickly."

That's encouraging. Apparently this is going to be brutal.

"After you swallow it, you'll want to vomit, but you can't," Uncle Brazen adds as he comes to join us.

And the dread just keeps building.

"Can you give me something to wash it down with if it's going to be that foul?" I gripe, cringing as a rancid sniff finds my nose.

Oh good grief, what is this? Rotting corpses?

"No. You can't have food or drink for five hours or it won't be potent enough to cleanse your veins."

Fucking great .

Jase joins me on the couch, his touch bringing such a tranquil blanket over me. He tucks me into his body, and Mom's sympathetic, knowing eyes find mine, offering me a bit more understanding than anyone else.

"Okay," I mumble. "Down the hatch."

I turn it up and instantly feel like spewing it back out. It tastes like rotten eggs, rancid chicken, and stagnant water all three hooked up and had a putrid baby in this flask. I choke, struggling to wash it down, wishing there was some other taste that could rescue me in this moment.

There's no way I can keep this down. It's so vile that a skunk would cover its nose.

I hand the empty flask back to Corbin as tears spring to my eyes from the overwhelming urge to gag.

"You have to keep it down. We'll have to wait seven days to try again if you throw it up," Corbin cautions.

They didn't prepare me for this. It's terrible. There's no way I can hold this down without something else freeing me from this wretched taste.

Cool lips find mine as sex and candy rushes my mouth, freeing me from the horrid taste. He tastes so good. He's my hero right now. He always is.

He pulls me tighter, holding me to him as our tongues begin to play with each other. My hands tangle in his hair, craving more of him. It's as though I can't get close enough, and I don't know how I'll spend two days in his arms without getting closer.

He groans slightly, feeling my frustration, and then tilts my head back before pulling away, my body still reeling from his incredible taste and kiss.

"That worked," I breathlessly release, glancing around to see my mother covering her smile.

The door opens once more, and Kellan walks in, his eyes avoiding mine as he sits down across from my mother while placing bags full of liquor on the chair beside him. Mom breaks the awkward tension.

"Jase, I want to be fully reinstated. Brazen does too. We never really wanted to leave the United. We only did so to keep my secret, and now that's no longer a necessity."

Fuck.

"The United would love to have the both of you back," he says with a shrug.

Mom smirks as she kisses her husband, both of them forgetting the room full of people as they put on a steamy display.

"Good, then I'll go with you on this mission," she adds while withdrawing from her new husband.

My stomach sinks, dread filling me. She'll get herself killed to keep me safe. Uncle Brazen knows it, his eyes saddening as he stares at her.

"Araya, I don't need you on the road. I need you doing something only you can do," Jase says, staring at her hopefully.

"You're just trying to keep me away from the fight," she refutes. "This is my daughter's life we're talking about."

His lips purse as he nods. "I'm perfectly aware of what's going on, but there are twenty other children who don't have parents, and they need someone to protect them from the Scorpions. They'll come after them. You're the only one who knows what those children have gone through. And you're the only one I trust with their safety. I'll send you a team, and Greta has agreed that she will stay to help you as well."

Mom groans at the very mention of my grandmother's name. Uncle Brazen's parents were the only grandparents Simone, Rex, and myself ever had. I told you we were a weird family.

"Jase, my daughter needs me."

"Not as much as these children do. I promise we'll call you if we need you. Do you trust anyone else with their safety? If so, then I'll let you go out into action. Aria is a full grown gifted hybrid. These are scared, defenseless children. Some of them share your scars, so they won't just trust anyone. I need you, Araya. I need you to do this."

You're so good at this.

Jase stifles a grin. He knows just how to work my mother. I suppose that's what makes him a good commander. He can control his people without controlling his people.

"He's right," Uncle Brazen adds, knowing how reckless my mother would be if she felt it necessary.

Mom groans, gripping her head as she sits down beside Kellan. She takes the bottle of liquor he's drinking from and turns it up, making Kellan chuckle lightly at the haste in which she consumes it.

He reaches over and grabs another, opening it and starting over in his own quest to drown his misery. I'm the reason for his misery. I hate that. When holding Jase's hand, I don't feel anything at all for the hybrid intended for me.

Jase doesn't make an attempt to acknowledge that thought, and I'm thankful for that. Mom finishes the bottle before finally ceding to Jase.

"Fine. But you had better call me when you need me because you will need me."

"I promise," Jase says, kissing the back of my hand.

The butterflies ruffle around, making me fight a girly grin. He stifles his own smile as well, letting me know he's hearing every salacious thought rolling around in my mind.

"I've got a friend I want you to go talk to," Mom says, pulling her purse out and digging around in it. "Back when we dealt with Ty, I found a female full blood who helped us catch a big break. She served a lesser sentence for her help, and she's cleaned up her act since then. However, she still keeps an ear to the ground for any information she might can offer me.

"If there's any activity going on in her circles of contacts, she'll help us out. You might have to play dirty to get the info, but she likes to be seduced. Just play the game."

"I can interrogate her and full blood boy can read her mind," Kellan says, no longer keeping Jase's secret.

Everyone gapes at Jase who shrugs, not too shocked with Kellan's big mouth reveal. "We all have our secrets. I'm no different."

Mom blushes fiercely for reasons I really don't want to know. Uncle Brazen's eyes widen to the point of popping out of his head. Corbin just looks completely confused.

"You can... so you... how much..."

Mom can't seem to formulate a full sentence.

"Don't worry. It's not like I haven't heard or seen worse," Jase chuckles, poking me in the side playfully.

Ew. You've seen my mom's fantasies? Sick.

He laughs fiercely, shaking his head while leaning over to whisper in my ear. "I tune them out the second they stir."

My eyes narrow accusingly at the smiling full blood.

You said you couldn't tune anything out.

He gives me a wink, not really answering me as he looks toward Mom. She keeps her eyes low while handing him an address.

"She just sent me this in a text. She'll meet you tomorrow at the Citandel. It's only five hours from here. Room 405. And... she's into women, not men."

Great.

He takes it from her and nods, standing up and sentencing me to feel the pain without his touch.

"You can come to my room when you get done," Jase murmurs softly. "I have to go make some calls and get this underway."

"Your room?" Kellan scoffs. "She's not sleeping with you."

Everyone tenses up, everyone except for Jase.

"She's hurting, and it's only going to get worse while the detoxifier works. Two days. That's it."

"How fucking convenient," Kellan growls, his eyes cutting me in half.

"You're not even technically together," Jase says with a low, venomous hum. "You kissed her best friend. You don't give a damn about Aria. You just think you have some claim to her."

Kellan jumps up and the boys get toe-to-toe, close to throwing punches as they stare one another down like the alpha males they both are.

"I don't have some claim to her. I'm her mother fucking counter, you stupid son of a bitch. You're too fucking full blood to understand what that means."

"You'd be surprised what the hell I know. One thing I do know is that she doesn't love you. You fucking know it too," Jase blares, making me grimace when I see the genuine pain in Kellan's eyes.

"I know that too," he murmurs in a hushed tone, stepping back. "She will though. I already love her."

He turns to me, fighting back the surge of pain as he backs down from the fight all together. Jase words ripped him in half, and for the first time, I see the true pain he's suffering, making the guilt swarm me with vicious stings. Kellan starts walking toward the door, grabbing a bottle of whiskey on his way.

I may not love him, but he's right. He deserves me to at least give us a shot. I owe him that much.

Jase hears my quick flip of mind, and I let my lip tremble as I finally find the courage to speak.

"I'll be fine. I'll just stay with Kellan," I strain out, fighting off the pain with all my strength. "Others do this without having some magical cure for the pain."

Kellan turns around, surprise in his eyes as he gawks at me in disbelief. Jase now shows me his sting of pain, but I have no choice. I can't do this. It's not fair to Jase who deserves someone he can be with. It's not fair to Kellan who will always want me. I can deal with what's not fair to me.

Jase starts to object after reading my mind, but I hold my hand up.

"I'll be fine," I say again, taking my painful stand, and then I turn my eyes to Mom. "Simone could probably use a friend right now, and I sure as hell can't be it. Will you-"

"I was planning on going to her as soon as we finished here."

I nod, and then I turn back to the tragic eyes of the hybrid opening the door for me as I start to walk out. This is the choice I don't like, but it's the one I had to make.