Secret Worlds (278 page)

“I can’t believe I dated that ass,” I said.

Serenity tilted her head. “He’s trying for lead developer. I saw him sucking up to Sheridan yesterday.”

I patted her hand. “I’m sorry.”

She shrugged.

“Why don’t you try? You could code circles around him.”

“That doesn’t mean I’m cut out for running a team. Jackass or not, he’s got people skills.”

I sighed. “Great. So any interviews will have to go through him.”

Serenity leaned back and tossed her long hair over her shoulder. “Who said I wouldn’t be up for answering questions, say over a game of DC Injustice?”

“As long as I get Batman,” I said.

Serenity snorted at me, lifting her glass to her lips. She froze and her eyes narrowed as she looked past me. I turned. Mercer Chapman walked our direction with his hands in his pockets and a smile on his face. Sheridan kept pace beside him with quick steps and secretive glances from under her eyelashes. Mercer’s gaze remained on Serenity and me as he approached.

“I heard you made it onto the team,” he said to Serenity. “Congratulations. I look forward to working with you.”

She crossed her arms. “Won’t you be too busy basking in the glory?”

Sheridan gasped. Even I had to blink. I knew she didn’t like him, but she didn’t need to be so harsh.

His sighed. “Come on, Serenity, this is a second chance.”

She glared at him. “What makes you think I’m willing to give it to you?”

“You’re not as immune as you think.” He glanced in my direction and his smile was back in place. “Hello again, Cassiopeia, wasn’t it?”

I swallowed the sudden dryness of my throat. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Chaplin.”

“Please, call me Mercer.” He held his hand out to me.

His fingers wrapped around my hand and sent tingles up through my arms. This close, the scent of his aftershave, a mix of patchouli and spice, drifted to my nose, and I resisted the urge to lean in and breathe him in. His eyes held that same intensity I’d lost myself in on the stage. I broke our gaze with a small cough and reached for my beer.

“You have a very unique name,” he said. “Not something you hear these days.”

I smiled over the rim of my glass. “My mom had a thing for Greek mythology.”

That was the understatement of the year.

“So, are you a developer like Serenity is?” he asked.

“Roommates actually.” I laughed. “I would say coding is all Greek to me, but I actually understand Greek.”

He chuckled. “Interesting. Do you hail from Greece?”

“Ancestors,” I said shortly. “My family likes to keep up with tradition, though.”

“Cassi’s our media source.” Sheridan stepped closer to him, semi-blocking him from my view.

“Is that so?” His gaze met mine over her head.

“I would love to set up a time for an interview when you have a moment,” I said. “There are so many questions I have. Maybe with you and Sheridan?”

He stepped around Sheridan and closer to me. Serenity’s eyes bored into him with an almost burning intensity. She gave me a brief shake of her head. Whatever she wanted to tell me was lost when Mercer took my hand again and pressed his lips to it. My heart was doing somersaults in my chest. Could he hear how loud it was beating?

“How about an exclusive?” he asked.

I blinked. “You’re serious? I would love that.”

Serenity snorted and crossed her arms, returning her glare to Mercer. “Do you really think that’s appropriate?”

“Yes,” Sheridan raised her voice. “I can arrange for a conference. I know she wanted to interview me as well. That way she can get both of us at once.”

He gave both of them a bland smile. “I’m sure the school news would love to hear more about the project from me.” He returned his gaze to me. “And just the two of us would cut out any distractions.”

A delicious shiver traveled across my body at the thought of the two of us alone. What was I thinking? This was supposed to be business. Except, those green eyes of his were promising so much more than business. I had to be misreading this. Why would a man like Mercer Chaplin be interested in a girl like me? I’d seen the women he had on his arm, and I was nothing like them. They were more like my Aunt Dahlia, sophisticated and perfect.

“How about we meet next Friday? That will give our little project a few days to get off the ground.” He glanced at Sheridan. “Do I have anything conflicting with my schedule on that day?”

She flashed me a dirty look under her eyelashes and touched her phone. “The retrospective isn’t until two weeks, so you are free on that day. However, I’m sure you have other business you need to attend. I’d be happy to give the exclusive.”

“No, I’d love to share my thoughts on this with Ms. Wayne,” Mercer said.

“Call me Cassi,” I said. “Everyone else does.”

“It was a pleasure, Cassi. Until we meet again.” He gave my hand a soft squeeze and turned to Serenity. “I will see you on Monday.”

Serenity continued to glare with her body stiff. He sighed, gave me a parting smile, and walked away. Sheridan flipped her hair over her shoulder and followed behind him without a backward glance. I could still feel the tickle of his lips on the top of my hand. I shakily grasped my glass and downed the rest of the beer.

“Want another?” I asked Serenity.

“Take me home,” she said.

“But the night’s still young.” I kept my voice light.

She stood and shoved her hands in pockets. “I’ll catch the bus or something.”

I let her walk away for ten seconds. The night was going so well. With a heavy sigh, I tossed a twenty on the bar and chased after her. I made her come to this place, and I would be an ass if I let her leave without a ride home. Had I really expected she would have a blast?

“All right.” I caught up with her. “Let’s go.”

The first few minutes stretched on in silence, with only the rumble of the engine and the howl of wind outside. I kept from gritting my teeth and switched on the radio. Some new singer crooned through the speakers to a slow melody.

“Don’t get too attached to Mercer,” Serenity said.

“I’m not,” I said. “It’s just an interview.”

“I saw the way you were looking at him.” She turned from her contemplation of the passing building and looked at me. “You’ve seen him on the news. He goes through women like water.”

I chuckled nervously. “I doubt he’s even interested in me.”

“He was flirting.”

“And he probably does that with all the women.”

She just shook her head and turned back to the window. “Just save yourself the heartache. Trust me, he’s an asshole. A million times worse than James.”

I bit the inside of my cheek. “You two seem to know each other. Did you date him or something?”

She gave a disgusted snort and muttered something in Portuguese before answering me. “No. Never.”

“So how?”

“He’s a part of my past that I wish would stay forgotten,” she said softly.

“Cryptic much?”

She didn’t answer. I pulled into the covered parking space outside our apartment and killed the engine. I poked at the tiny fox keychain and it swung against the rest of my keys with a light clack. Serenity unbuckled her seatbelt and opened the door.

“You don’t need to worry,” I said. “Nothing is going to happen.”

She turned back to me with sad smile. “I hope not.”

She slid out of the car, leaving me alone. I sighed and rested my forehead on the steering wheel. Hope had been a tricky spirit ever since Pandora released it. Some argued that it was the only good that Zeus had placed in the jar while others argued it was the worst evil of all. After all, humans endured almost anything when they had hope. Zeus was the kind of ass to do something like that.

I climbed out of the car and sprinted to catch up with Serenity. She walked with her shoulders slumped and her head drooping. She didn’t seem to believe I was capable of resisting Mercer, or that he wasn’t interested in me. What kind of relationship did the two of them have, and what had happened in the past that she was so antagonistic to him?

Serenity stopped at the metal and concrete stairwell that led to our apartment. A seated figured wheeled itself from the shadows of the stairs. The yellowish light reflected off the highlights of the woman’s red-gold ponytail. She gazed at Serenity with narrowed blue eyes like mine and her pale lips pressed in a thin line. Goose bumps broke out over my skin as if I had been doused with ice cold water. Oh no, not now.

“Well,” the woman drawled. “You gonna stand there gapping like a fish all night or give your auntie a hug?”

“I’ll catch up with you later,” I told Serenity.

She gave me one last silent stare as if the two of us could communicate telepathically. I shook my head at her and mouthed “later”. With a shrug of her shoulders, she tromped up to the stairs. I returned my gaze to the woman in the wheelchair and gritted my teeth. Now, came the difficult part.

“Hi, Aunt Jo,” I said softly.

She crossed her toned arms and gave me cross between a smirk and a glare. “After months of silence, that’s all I get?”

I took a few steps forward and leaned down, wrapping my arms around her. She gave me a slight squeeze with one of hers. I stood up and scanned the parking lot with a sigh. The yellow street lamps reflected off the paint of the parked cars. Besides us and a few sophomores headed to their apartments, it was empty.

“It’s just me,” Aunt Jo said. “None of yer cousins are waitin’ to grab you from the shadows.”

“So, you want to take a walk, erm, roll?” I asked.

She raised a brow and chuckled. “School hasn’t done nothin’ bout yer mouth.”

“You expected it to?”

“Not really.”

She waved to the handles on the back of her wheelchairs. I sighed and took up my position. We strolled along the sidewalk that split the two apartment buildings with each side decorated with prickly holly bushes. To the average passerby, we probably looked like two sisters out for a walk. Despite her condition, Aunt Jo didn’t look much older than I. Our bloodline was gifted with slow aging. One of the many to compensate for the problems we faced.

Anyone passing by couldn’t see the tension between us. It had built up a knot in my lower back in the short amount of time I’d been with Aunt Jo. I wanted to leave her here and run the other way. But Aunt Jo was the best family I had left, and I couldn’t do that to her.

“Why are you here?” I asked.

“You’ve been ignorin’ our calls,” she said.

I swallowed the hard lump in my throat. “I’ve been busy.”

Aunt Jo snorted. “Flirtin’ with boys?”

“Classes,” I said. “You know, what I came here for.”

“Yeah, well, that’s over. Yer comin’ home with me.”

I stopped, my hand gripping the handles until they became white. “I have another year. The Pyrrha agreed I could complete my Bachelor’s degree.”

“That was before one of
Them
started killin’ us off,”

The splash of water echoed through the warm night air as we passed by the pool surrounded by its black metal fence, but neither the laugher nor the humidity could prevent the chill that crawled along my skin. Her words hung in the air like a poised knife at my chest. The only
them
Aunt Jo used that voice for were the damoines—the evil spirits that fled from the jar Pandora opened. Pandora had actually existed when men were still dumb and thought the gods would do anything for them. She’d probably felt honored to be chosen by the gods. They rained gifts upon her and had even raised her up to be the wife of a titan. Oh course, Zeus had known what he was doing when he’d given her the jar. Like I said, he was an ass. She’d given into to her curiosity. Ever since, mankind had to deal with all those evil she’d unleashed

Of course, Zeus hadn’t stopped there. He decided that mankind were worse with these spirits and sent a flood to destroy humanity. The flood devastated the world, but a few survived. Pyrrha, Pandora’s daughter, endured and swore to rid the world of both the evil daimones and the gods themselves. After all, gods who don’t give a shit for people shouldn’t rule. This was the woman I descended from and, of course, my family is just crazy enough to keep this plan going for centuries.

I finally found my voice. “How is this new?”

Aunt Jo gave a disgusted snort. “Now they’re invadin’ our safe homes. We lost contact with the Millers from up North.”

“Why doesn’t the Pyrrha handle this? She’s supposed to be our leader.”

Aunt Jo snorted. “You still got something against your Aunt Dahlia, eh?”

“That’s not the point,” I said. “She’s supposed to be the one who protects us.”

“That’s what’s she tryin’ to do, Cassi girl. That’s why yer comin’ home now.”

“So, what? She’s going to fit all the pandorans in her house? Have them camp out in her yard?”

Aunt Jo turned to stare at me. “You know that as her niece you have priority.”

“But everything is fine here. I’m safe. I have a school full of people.”

“You think that will stop
Them
? They possess people, remember? It could be yer best friend back there. There’s somethin’ off about her.”

“It’s not,” The tang of grilling meat wafted past my nose and twisted up my already knotted stomach even more.. “You said up North. That’s not even close to Dallas.”

“And we got planes. Yer safer at home,” she said. “‘Sides, it’s time you accept yer fate like the rest of us.”

The rubber handles of the wheelchair bit into my palms at my tightening grip and as I stared at an ant crawling across the concrete. It must have lost its way from its nest. It was free to roam the world, unlike me. The muggy night air grew thick. My family was cutting my time short. I was supposed to have four years away from it, away from the training, the fighting, and the nightmares. Well, the nightmares had never left, but my freedom had muted them. My mother’s glazed eyes flashed in my mind, her soft smile twisting into something sadistic.

“You promised I could graduate,” I whispered.

“Well, the Pyrrha is payin’ for this. She can pull you out. And there’s a need.”

“Do you even know which one it is?”

Aunt Jo shook her head. “We just have the disappearances to go on.”