Gabriel’s POV
“Come on, Aria, focus,” I grunted and squeezed her hand.
“I am tired, Gabriel,” she sighed. “We have been at it for hours. We can try again later.”
“It’s only been an hour and a half,” I said. “One more time and we can stop.”
She rolled her eyes and sighed. “Fine. One more time and we are done for today.”
I nodded and let go of her hand.
After breakfast, Cassie asked Annie to help her pack. They were both crazy about clothes, so Annie accepted her offer with so much excitement that I thought she was going to burst. Nick decided to walk Jacob and Blake through our plan of finding Patricia. So, while everyone was busy, I dragged Aria to the guest bedroom, and we started practicing. We have been trying to find her power, but no luck so far. I felt a small spark of her power a few times, but she couldn’t catch it. By the way, she was as powerful as I am.
I made sure to cast a small spell so nobody outside the house could feel us doing magic. It wasn’t as powerful as the spell that was protecting our home, but it was enough not to alert anyone.
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
“Okay. Focus,” I said quietly. “Find the source of your power. Imagine taking a handful of it. Hold it. Keep it. Let it guide you.”
Her eyebrows furrowed and I could see her focus hard.
“Don’t push it,” I said. “Catch it and feel it.”
Her eyes shot open. “Shut up. You are distracting me.”
I raised my hands like I was surrendering.
“Sorry,” I mumbled. “Go again. I will stay quiet.”
She gave me a serious glare before she closed her eyes again. She took a deep breath and relaxed her shoulders.
I smiled watching her. We were so much alike. I was starting to notice more and more similarities as the days went by.
“I have it,” she mumbled after a few moments.
I opened my mouth to speak but decided against it. I didn’t want to disturb her.
I watched her focus as she tried to keep that spark when suddenly I was hit with a wave of frustration so hard that it made me jump to my feet.
I felt the magic that covered the house weaken from the impact. Shit. I hoped nobody outside felt whatever this was.
A loud growl rang through the house and Aria’s eyes opened to look at me. She was as confused as I was. What the hell was that?
Loud footsteps approached the door and it suddenly burst open. An irritated Nick stood at the door, glaring between Aria and me. Jacob, Blake, Annie, and Cassie were standing behind him trying to look inside the room.
“What the hell was that?” Nick growled.
“I have no idea,” I mumbled, staring at him.
“We were trying to find my power,” Aria said and stood up. “I managed to find it, but I lost it again and it made me so frustrated. Why did you growl? What happened? Why are you all here?”
My eyes snapped to her. Oh, my Goddess. She did it. She found it. I stared at her with my mouth hanging open.
“You did it,” I said quietly. “You found it.”
She looked at me and her eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
“I found the power, yes,” she said slowly. “But I couldn’t hold it and feel what the hell am I supposed to do with it.”
“You don’t get it,” I said and walked over to her, taking her hand in mine. “All of us felt your frustration. You projected it to us. Your power is the same as mine, only you can project emotions.”
Her eyes widened in surprise.
“You felt my frustration?” she asked me in disbelief.
“Yes,” Jacob answered. “It felt like I was hit by a train.”
“That’s why I growled,” Nick said, crossing his arms over his chest and stepping aside so others could come in.
Her eyes roamed over all of us before they settled on me.
“What do I do now?” she asked me quietly.
“You practice,” I said confidently. “You need to learn to control it.”
She nodded and gulped. Her eyes were still wide and glued to me. I smiled brightly and pulled her to me. I wrapped my arm over her shoulder and kissed the top of her head.
“I am so proud of you,” I said, looking down at her. “I knew you could do it.”
She looked up at me and smiled.
“She is done for today,” Nick said sternly. “I can feel how tired she is, and you are not pushing her even more, Gabriel.”
“We are definitely done,” I said and let go of her. “She could hurt herself if she is tired.”
“How about tonight, before we leave, we have a girls’ and boys’ night?” Cassie suggested, ending our conversation. “I need a night with my Ari and you guys can use that time to get to know each other better.”
Nick and I exchanged looks. I knew he didn’t want to do this. But if they were coming with us and helping us stop Victor, we needed to be on good terms. I couldn’t have Nick jumping down Jacob’s throat every time he spoke.
“I agree,” I said, not moving my eyes from Nick. “We should get to know each other better.”
Nick frowned but stayed silent.
“Awesome,” Annie clapped her hands and ran toward Aria.
She grabbed her hand and started pulling her out of the room. Nick reached out to take Aria’s hand, but Annie pulled her away from his reach. She turned and pointed her index finger at him.
“Don’t even think about it, mister,” she said with fake anger. “You can have her later. She is ours now.”
Nick growled quietly and the girls chuckled. I smirked and watched the girls leave the room. They were already chatting excitedly.
As soon as the girls left, the tension in the room rose. Nick and Jacob were glaring at each other, and Blake and I were glancing between them worriedly.
This was going to be an interesting night.
Aria’s POV
After what felt like hours of convincing, Gabriel finally gave in and let Nick drive his precious car.
I was sitting in the back chuckling at Gabriel who constantly complained about Nick’s driving.
“Will you shut up?” Nick grunted after a while. “I will crash it on purpose.”
“With your mate in the car?” Gabriel asked sarcastically and raised his eyebrow.
Nick growled quietly and shook his head. I chuckled again.
“Did you have fun yesterday?” Gabriel asked, turning to me.
“Yes,” I answered, smiling. “It was great. We talked and laughed. Cassie and Annie are really getting along great.”
“I can see that,” he said with a smile and looked at the car behind us.
Annie and Cassie were really hitting it off. Both were into makeup and fashion, and they couldn’t stop talking about it. So, Annie decided to ride with Jake, Blake and Cassie, just so they could continue talking. I guess they didn’t have enough yesterday.
They asked me to ride with them, but Nick said no, and they didn’t push it. Which was for the best. He was on edge as was.
“What about you?” I asked and looked between Gabriel and Nick. “What did you guys do?”
Nick stayed silent, but I could see his grip around the wheel tightening.
“We drank beer and talked,” Gabriel answered, not looking at me.
“And?” I asked and leaned between them.
“I like them,” Gabriel said and turned back to me. “They are really nice. And they care about you.”
Nick growled and I rolled my eyes.
“Oh, come on, Nick,” Gabriel sighed. “Nobody is taking her away from you. Relax, dude.”
“So, you didn’t like them?” I asked Nick.
He sighed and ran his hand through his hair.
“They are not so bad,” he said quietly. “Blake is funny.”
“Told you,” I said with a smirk.
Nick glanced at me and smirked.
“I still don’t like Jacob,” he said.
“Of course, you don’t,” I sighed and leaned back, crossing my arms over my chest.
“He wants what’s mine, Aria,” he said, looking at the road. “No amount of boys’ nights is going to change how I feel about him.”
“I know that,” I sighed. “But can you please stop being so worried and grumpy? I don’t want him. He is a friend.”
“Fine,” he sighed. “I’ll try.”
“Good,” I smiled brightly and leaned back toward them.
Gabriel’s phone rang and he pulled it out of his pocket.
“It’s Blake,” he mumbled before answering.
I tried to listen to what Blake was saying, but I couldn’t understand.
Gabriel ended the call and turned to Nick.
“We need to stop by the side of the road,” he said. “The girls need to pee.”
Nick nodded and a few minutes later he found a place to park our cars. We got out of the car, and I stretched my legs.
“Do you need to go, A?” Annie called me.
I shook my head, and they ran toward the forest.
Jake and Blake walked toward us.
“Hey, Minnie,” Jake said with a big smile on his face.
“Hey, Jake,” I smiled back. “You okay?”
“Of course,” he responded and leaned on Gabriel’s car. “My ears are falling off, though. I can’t listen to makeup any longer.”
Gabriel, Nick, and I laughed, and Blake shook his head.
“Me neither, man,” he said and turned to Gabriel and Nick. “Can they ride with you for a while?”
Before they could answer, a terrifying scream rang through the forest.
Annie.
My blood froze. I couldn’t move. It seemed like the time was standing still.
The guys moved first, screaming their names.
I started running after them, my mind going a mile a minute. I had a million different scenarios about what happened in my head, but nothing prepared me for what I saw.
Annie was kneeling on the ground, her back turned to us. She was crying hysterically and staring in front of her. I followed her gaze and my heart stopped beating.
It was him.
He held a knife to Cassie’s throat, and he was smirking at me.
“Hello, little bird,” he said. “It is so wonderful to see you again.”
Nick growled loudly. Gabriel came to stand in front of me, shielding me from his gaze. Blake’s eyes were fixed on Cassie. Jake walked over to Annie, helped her up, and pulled her over to us.
Nick was on the verge of shifting. His whole body trembled, and he never stopped growling.
“Well, isn’t this nice,” he said. “You are protecting her. Too bad it’s not going to work.”
“Project something, Gabriel,” Jake said quietly, his voice trembling. “Confuse him.”
“I am afraid he will kill her,” Gabriel whispered.
“Little bird,” he called out to me, and my heart stopped. “I will let your friend go if you come to me.”
Nick growled so loudly the trees shook.
“No, Aria, don’t!” Cassie shouted.
“Shut up!” he yelled at her.
I was sure my heart would beat its way out of my chest. This was exactly what I was afraid of. Somebody got hurt because of me. I couldn’t let that happen. I couldn’t let anyone die because of me.
Before anyone realized what I was doing, I walked out of their reach. I knew they would try to stop me.
His gaze followed me, and he smiled brightly.
“Aria, no!” Nick and Gabriel yelled at the same time.
They started moving toward me.
“One more step and I am cutting her throat,” he said, making them stop. “Come on, little bird. We need to go.”
My whole body trembled when I started walking to him. I completely ignored the shouting around me.
When I was within his reach, he pushed Cassie to the ground and grabbed my hand. He took a few steps back and pulled me to him.
He turned me around so I would face my friends and placed a knife under my throat.
They were staring at me with terrified expressions on their faces. Nick’s canines lengthened and his fingers were replaced by his claws. He was growling so loudly I could feel vibrations through my body.
He leaned in and rubbed his nose up and down my jaw, inhaling deeply. I closed my eyes and felt a tear roll down my cheek. I wanted to throw up.
“How I missed you, little bird,” he said. “You smell amazing.”
“Get your fucking hands off of her!” Nick yelled.
His voice was so much deeper. Nate was close to the surface.
“Why would I stop touching what’s mine?” he yelled back at Nick and laughed. “I finally got her back. I am keeping her this time.”
I opened my eyes to look at my friends. The people I love. The people I will never see again.
“I am so sorry,” I said quietly, tears rolling down my cheeks. “I love you all. Please forgive me.”
