Chaos (Kardia Chronicles) (Entangled Teen) Read online

  I opened my mouth to ask, but he beat me to it. Was he a mind reader? Was that even a thing for my kind?

  “There’s a certain protocol. I had to watch you unannounced until I got a feel for what you were about, how well you were dealing with your power and what we should do about it. Now I know.” And judging by his grim expression, he wasn’t impressed.

  I let that sink in and nodded. That made sense, I guessed, but I still managed to work up some indignation. “So why in God’s name have you been fucking with me all the time? Seriously, was it also part of your job to come to the school, ruin my advice column, blackmail me, and basically wreck my life?”

  He shifted in his seat and gripped the steering wheel. “It’s more complicated than that. I’m also to see how your control holds up under pressure and stress. You don’t have a boyfriend or a job, and the only thing you really seemed to care about was the column. It was the easiest way to push your buttons and get you cross with me.”

  A chill that had nothing to do with the temperature settled over me, coating my heart in a case of ice. My voice was barely a whisper served on a puff of steam. “So that I would do what?”

  He didn’t answer but turned to face me full-on and laid a hand on my shoulder. I shook him off and spoke louder this time. “I need you to answer me right now. No more jerking me around, no more BS. What was going to happen in your perfect little world when you set me off for real, Mac?”

  “Dial it back, Maggie,” he said, his voice and eyes going flat. “Understand, my job requires—”

  “No, YOU have to understand.” My voice shook, and I could feel my control slipping, but there was nothing to be done about it now. I just had to say what I needed to say and get out of the car and into my house, where I couldn’t hurt anyone.

  “If your little game worked? If you made me so mad that I blew up for real? I could have killed you. Do you get that, you stubborn asshole? That little taste you got? That was nothing. Now maybe you have some freak-o kind of death wish, or maybe the crones running the Council have made it one of your job requirements, so dying wouldn’t mean that much to you. But killing someone?” My voice cracked, but I didn’t care. A girl could only take so much and in the course of twelve minutes, my whole world had been flipped on its ass. Again. “That means something to me. Now do me a favor. Go back and report to your bosses that I’m doing fine and managed not to murder you, which is more than I bet a lot of human girls would be able to say after the crap you’ve been pulling. Then don’t come back here. I don’t want to see your face ever again.”

  Before I could open the door, the lock clicked ominously. He leaned forward and turned the heat up a little. It was only then that I heard the chattering of teeth. Mine. Maybe it was shock. Sure felt like it. As if I was in a cloud looking down at myself and my fucked up life, almost dispassionately now. All the fear had gone, even the ever-present annoyance with Mac had faded, leaving behind an eerie calm. A strange acceptance. I wasn’t getting out of the car unless or until he let me. Maybe I would die here.

  “We’re not through yet. I need to ask you again.” His jaw was set at a stubborn angle and his all business, matter of fact tone somehow set me right again. My teeth stopped chattering and the floaty, blessed shock faded, sending me crashing back to reality.

  I sensed it coming, and when it came, it came like a sledgehammer this time.

  “Tell me about Eric. Did you do that to him?”

  My face went hot, and I let my chin fall to my chest. Not again. I couldn’t listen to myself say the words out loud. I couldn’t relive it again. I’d already told it once to Mom. Not even Libby knew the whole truth, although I think she might have suspected.

  “What happened that night, Maggie?” His voice was soft and gentler than I’d ever heard it.

  A shudder ran through me, and I shook my head. “I can’t t-talk about it.”

  “You don’t have a choice.”

  “I do.” Now I was pissed because that was the whole thing about that night. The thing I hated most. The part no one else knew about that happened before the wreck. And the idea that someone stronger than me could take my freedom to choose away again. Even now it made my blood boil. “I always have a choice.”

  “That’s your human side talking, and not to be rude, but that side of you has got its head up its arse. When the Council is involved, choice is a matter of interpretation.” His fingers drummed out a beat on the steering wheel before he turned to me again. “Look at me.”

  I did but only because I couldn’t seem to stop myself. His gray gaze locked with mine and my heartbeat skittered.

  “If you didn’t do this, or there is more to the story, now is the time to speak. Beyond this moment, it won’t matter anymore.” The stark expression on his face sent a trickle of dread running through me.

  Part of me wanted him to know. Wanted him to understand, but I couldn’t make my mouth work. If I told my story, who was to say he’d even listen to the semantics? Because, details aside, the truth was, I was responsible. And for the first time, he was treating me like a human being. I wasn’t ready for that to be over.

  In the end, it didn’t matter anyway. My silence was all it took to set the hands back to hate o’clock.

  His eyes went dark and steely, and I knew for sure his next words were going to be one hundred percent truth, and I wasn’t going to like it.

  I shook my head at him miserably. “What do you give a shit about me or my life? You can’t stand me anyway.” I didn’t know how much I wanted him to deny it until he didn’t.

  “My personal feelings about you have nothing to do with the job.” His lips twisted and he shrugged. “You said you wanted choices, I’ll let you have two. If you don’t pick one, one will be selected for you. Either I make myself your shadow.” He leaned close enough that his breath stirred my hair. “I will ride you until you break and commit another transgression, and we will take your powers by force, or you come with me to the Council, tell them what happened with Eric, and willingly renounce your power. All will be forgotten, and you can move on. Have a normal life.” He said it like he was offering me a house in The Hamptons. “I’m giving you your best option right now, Maggie. Be smart and take it.”

  Take it. Take a normal life. Thoughts of growing up, riding bikes and carefree days filled with sled-riding and board games filled my head. The days before I’d changed into what I was now…what I had yet to become. And all I had to do was agree to go with him, and the Council would just turn them off? Like a faucet? Hope blossomed in my chest and then shriveled almost instantly. If it was so easy, then why hadn’t my mom and gram done that instead of just binding their powers on their own? And why hadn’t they brought me to the Council sooner to have it done? Could all this with Eric have been avoided from the beginning if they had?

  I needed some time to think. Some time to talk to Mom before I went any further with this conversation. This couldn’t be as easy as it sounded. “I can’t choose. Not yet.”

  And just like that, the very last of his pretend patience went out the window. “Like most things, it’s pretty black and white. If you regret what you’ve done, you’ll come with me to the Council and get this taken care of. If you don’t, then you won’t. And then we have a serious problem. I can promise you this, though.” His face was pale and tight in the moonlight, and his voice was low and harsh. “You’re one bad day away from killing someone.”

  That fucking hurt, and I bit my lip to hold back the gasp. “You don’t even know me. How can you say that?”

  “You’re kardia Aphrodite.”

  He said it like it should mean something and while I knew the Aphrodite part, the other word was new to me.

  “What’s kardia?”

  His frown deepened and the seats creaked as he turned to face me more fully. “It means like, from the heart of. That’s what we say when we declare our origins. Why don’t you already know that?”

  Answering would require me telling him more stu
ff I didn’t want to tell him. Instead, I opened my mouth to explain why that was none of his goddamned business, but the thunderous look on his face stopped me. “I guess it didn’t come up.”

  He uttered something under his breath and, judging by the clenching of his fists, I was glad I didn’t hear it. Unfortunately, it wasn’t long before he increased the volume. “I seriously don’t know whether you’re playing stupid or you’re actually this stupid sometimes.”

  Oh, fuck this. I made for the door again, but his softly muttered, “Don’t,” was menacing enough that I didn’t.

  He blew out an exasperated sigh. “You’re from Aphrodite’s bloodline. So you’re kardia Aphrodite. There are still a handful of you out there, and I’ve never met a good one. You know the whole succubus folklore?”

  My mouth went dry and I forced a nod. Please don’t say it, please don’t—

  “Where do you think it came from?”

  That little gem rocked me, but I didn’t even have time to catch my breath before he added more to the load.

  “For a second, I wondered about you. When I saw you at the hospital with Eric today? I thought that just maybe…” His lips pulled into a harsh line. “But I realize now it’s early days and you all but admitted you put that kid in a coma. You steal. You lie when it suits you.”

  His words rained on like a razor storm, and I wanted to curl into a ball and cover myself.

  But he still didn’t stop. “And that’s only now. You’re not even strong yet, and you’re still a little torn. Once you’re seventeen and you finish changing, what little good is left in you will be eaten up by the need. Now, I’m trying to help you here before that happens. If Eric had died, we wouldn’t even need your permission. You’d have been taken out. Period. You can take the hand I’m offering you and in a few months this will all be a bad dream, or you can do this the hard way.” His voice dropped low, which was scarier than if he’d started to yell. “And if you think it’s been hard up until now, you’re sadly mistaken.”

  Was he right? Was all my kind evil somehow? Not my mom or my gram. That much I knew was true in my heart. But maybe they used to be, before they bound their power? The thought made me ill and prompted another, even worse thought. Was I a birthday away from being a complete monster like something from a horror movie? I couldn’t deny that sometimes I sure felt like it. Tears clogged my throat, and I swallowed hard.

  “I need more information before I can decide. Like, why do we? If Aphrodite is the goddess of love, why do her descendants have the desire to steal it from people? Seems backwards.”

  “It sure as hell is.” His lip curled in disgust. “But that’s the way it goes for all semis. When god’s mate with humans, it dilutes that blood line. Ancient gods aren’t like today’s gods. Most were ruthless when they were at their height of power. Put them together with equally flawed humans, and sometimes it works out okay, sometimes it doesn’t. One really bad mating can create a rift in the line that carries on for centuries.”

  He gave me a pointed look, and I worried the soft flesh on the inside of my cheek with my teeth. So apparently the kardia Aphrodite had been among the lines with said rift. There was a lot of annoyance and no sympathy in his voice while he delivered all this pleasant info, and it made me want to punch him. This was my life we were talking about.

  He didn’t seem to notice and continued on. “Then, add to that the passing of thousands of years. Powers change, and become unstable but through it all, each line retains some part of its origin deity in some way. Most kardia Poseidon can control water, moving it with their hands or sometimes even their minds. Kardia Hermes are notorious gossips and often have the power to travel from one place to another in a blink. Your kind has retained Aphrodite’s need for worship and her affinity for love. Somehow, over centuries, that manifested into what it is now. When you come fully into your power, you’ll be able to do other things, but the desire to take love from people will always be there.”

  Way to make it sound as awful as possible.

  “I’ve answered your question, now you need to answer mine.” His gaze drilled into me. “Are you coming with me?”

  Before I could even form a response, the lights flickered in my house and I looked down at my cell phone with a start.

  “Please. I have to go in. My mom has her Pilates class on Saturday nights, and I need to be there to watch my gram. Do we have to do this right now? I’m totally overwhelmed. I can barely think straight, and…”

  And? What had I planned to say? That I felt like I was taking crazy pills and should think about checking myself into a loony bin? That if he pushed me, I was going to crack into a thousand little pieces? “Give me until Monday to think, okay? I’m begging you.”

  He hesitated, sparing a glance to the picture window of my house where my mom stood now, peering out. “Fine.” He nodded curtly. “Monday. Lunchtime. Meet me in the quad area so we can talk.”

  I got the impression I didn’t have a whole lot of say in the matter, so I nodded. “Fine.”

  I took the reprieve gratefully, despite the twenty questions on the tip of my tongue. It was strange, but even though he’d spent the better part of an hour threatening me, I felt oddly as energized as I did terrified. If he was telling the truth, I’d found another semi my age. One who knew things about me and my kind. I’d never met one and wasn’t even sure how many existed or if I’d ever meet another.

  What type of semi was he? Did he have powers? Where did he come from? When was he leaving? Was he sure all kardia Aphrodite were bad? I voiced none of these questions, though.

  Instead, I stepped out of the car in silence, the sting of cold a welcome, jarring slap.

  “And Maggie?” Mac called after me, his voice soft but audible over the rumble of the car engine.

  “Yeah?” I bent low to poke my head through the still-opened door.

  His face was so intense, I wondered if he descended from a God of war. “Don’t even think about blowing me off.”

  Chapter Six

  I stepped into the house, wishing I had even another five minutes to get my head together before Mom grilled me about the boy who’d driven me home. I had a lot of questions for her, too, but wasn’t sure what I wanted to tell her about Mac yet, so asking all of them would be impossible until I made a decision on that front. I didn’t know what scared me more: the thought that she would tell me I couldn’t go with him to the Council to relinquish my powers or the possibility that she would grab me, toss me into the car, and drive me herself when she found out it was an option.

  “Who was that?” she called into the hallway.

  Didn’t even have my coat off yet. I yanked my arms out and hung it on the back of the door, still shaking from my discussion with Mac. “A friend from school.”

  “What friend? Did he see you walking home and pick you up?”

  “This kid named…” Had I told her Mac’s name? I didn’t think so. Better if I didn’t mention he was the same guy I’d been talking about the other day, because that would open up a whole new line of investigative reporting. “Mac. He was at the hospital visiting his mother and saw me walking out.” Hey, if that was a good enough line for him, it was good enough for me. I sure couldn’t tell her the truth.

  I strolled toward the dining room where she stood, eyeballing me, a frown creasing her brow. “Is this a possible boyfriend?”

  She asked like it was just mild curiosity, but the concern was plain in her eyes. The thought of me alone with boys still scared her. I got that. It scared me, too.

  “Definitely not. Just a ride home.”

  Her smile was much more genuine this time as she pulled out a chair then sat in front of a pile of mail. “That was nice of him.” She leafed through the pile and jerked her head toward the kitchen. “There’s dinner on the stove. Turkey chili.”

  I nodded but made no move to get a bowl. “How’s Gram today?” I peered into the living room, but it was dark.

  “She’s asleep already.
Today was…not great.” A cloud passed over her face, and I felt like a shit for not coming in sooner.

  “Not great” lately meant bad.

  “I’m so sorry I’m late. Why don’t you go get ready for your class?”

  “I think I’m going to skip it tonight and just veg on the couch,” she said with a phony smile.

  She was Pilates-obsessed, so that was another clue of exactly how bad her day must have been. Yet another reason not to tell her about my conversation with Mac. “I’ll veg with you, then.”

  As soon as I got some information because right now I was flying blind with only the word of a near stranger who’d been almost exclusively shitty to me to go on and a life-altering decision less than two days away. How to bring it up nonchalantly?

  “So, tell me more about the Council of Amaranth.” Ah, well played, Maggie. Very smooth.

  Mom stopped shuffling the pile of mail and pulled off the reading glasses I was convinced she only wore to make her look less pretty.

  “Why are you asking about them now?” Her tone was as sharp as her gaze.

  I managed to keep from flushing—a sure sign of guilt to Mom’s eyes—and shrugged, good reasons in decidedly short supply. I didn’t let that stop me, though, and leaned on the back of one of the chairs. “Well, my birthday is less than five months away. I’m getting closer to becoming whatever it is I’m becoming, and I want to know more about the stuff you told me. I thought I’d start there.”

  She sighed. “You know I’m not comfortable discussing this with you. I don’t even know how it works anymore—it’s been so long. It’s a part of my past, and soon, hopefully it will be a part of your past, too.”

  I shelved my anger at her continued unwillingness to help me and tried a different tack. “Right. And past is history. Our history. I want to know where we came from. How can that hurt?”

  She seemed to relax some and rubbed her eyes. “Okay, sit down. We’re going to keep it short and sweet.”