Tormented (Evolution Series Book 2) (3 page)

I turned around and headed for the bathroom.

Aiden called, “Do you want some company?”

“Locks. Remember?” I opened the door, walked in, and closed it behind me.

The bathroom was bigger than any I had ever seen. The walls and floor were covered in the most amazing marble tiles that were
modern-looking
, but still kept with the whole castle theme. One of those freestanding bathtubs sat in the middle of the room, but it looked to be more like the size of a spa. I guessed it was yet another custom-made item to add to their collection. To the left stood a massive double shower that had a floating glass wall. And at the far end was a toilet that really gave meaning to the expression “the royal throne.” There was even a sofa to the side of the massive bathtub, which I guessed was for laying out clothes. Well, that was what I planned on using it for anyway.

I undressed and placed my clothes on the sofa, then made my way over to the shower. I turned the hot water tap and was instantly met with water that seemed the perfect temperature. The water not only spouted from directly above, but also from the walls.

Letting the water massage my body, I thought back to what had happened in Thailand. I tried to stop thinking about it. There was nothing I could do to change what I had done. I was glad I hadn’t let all of those locals perish in the armed fire assault.

With what Aiden had done to those people on the beach, none of them would remember I was there that day. Even if they did, there was no way anyone would find out what I had done, which meant that we were safe. I was pretty sure the shooter wouldn’t be telling anyone soon, unless of course he wanted to end up in front of a firing squad, the penalty for such crimes in Thailand.

My inner ramblings were interrupted by Aiden’s familiar voice inside my head.
“I’m glad you’re enjoying your shower. I’m
gonna
go and see if I can find Dave.”

“No worries. I won’t be too much longer,”
I lied, but Aiden knew that, which didn’t make it a real lie per se.

“Yeah, whatever. You’ll probably be in there for at least another half hour.”
He knew me too well. Boy, did I love my showers. I would usually stay under the water until my skin turned wrinkly. "
Oh, by the way. A locksmith will be around within an hour.”

Was he serious? How the hell did he arrange a locksmith so damn quickly at that time of night? Maybe it was an English thing. Or maybe it was one of those “I live in a castle” things. He probably had a locksmith on staff.

“Are you ever going to get over the whole castle thing?”
He was obviously still listening in on my thoughts.

“Just go and find your dad. Oh, and say hi to him for me.”

“Love
ya
."

"Love you, too."
And I meant it.

Sometimes it got a little annoying not having any privacy, but I wouldn’t have our relationship any other way. Hearing someone’s thoughts really changed the way I viewed life. For some reason, most people pretended to be someone they weren’t. Some would act as if they were better than others, but inside, they were just as insecure as the rest of us.

CHAPTER 3

When my skin had finally given me the time-up signal, I got out of the shower. After I dried off, I went in search of something to wear. I hadn’t brought anything because I hadn’t thought about a change of clothes before I transported us. Aiden, on the other hand, had plenty of clothes in his massive walk-in closet off the bathroom.

I rummaged through it until I found a shirt that would cover enough of my thighs so as not to embarrass myself too much. Then, I made my way out of his room in search of Aiden or his parents.

With my ability of being able to sense Aiden’s presence, even if it was a little tough because of the size of the place, I managed to navigate the maze of corridors that led to the dining room, where
I was greeted by none other than Bernard, who motioned for me to enter the room
.

Even though the dining room was huge, with seriously expensive décor and a mountain of food covering the entire table, my eyes couldn’t look away from the tarty bitch sitting in the chair next to Aiden. She was facing him, leaning forward ever so slightly to allow for maximum boob show, while she twisted a lock of her golden blond hair through her fingers. And as soon as she saw me, she started laughing as if Aiden had just told her something hilarious, which I knew he didn’t because of the confused expression on his face.

Aiden glanced up, saw me, and quickly jumped out of his chair. He greeted me with a kiss before he pulled me into his arms and whispered, “Don’t worry about her. She can be a bit much at times.”

“That’s putting it lightly,” I replied low enough that my voice wouldn’t carry, even though I knew almost half the people in the room would be able to hear me anyway, thanks to the super-hearing thing. Oh and add to that the fact that I hadn’t yet learnt to block my thoughts from them.

Before I could say anything else about the skank sitting in what I presumed would be my seat, Aiden turned so that I was under his arm and began his introductions. “Jade, this is Nathan.” He pointed at a good-looking, twenty-something guy with brown hair and blue eyes.

“Welcome to England,” Nathan said with a very strong English accent.

“Thanks,” I replied automatically. I never really looked in Nathan’s direction for more than a second because my eyes kept going back to Miss Skank, who was preening herself for her introduction.

Aidan gestured at her. “And this here is Georgia, who was just about to get out of your seat.”

Georgia scoffed, then stood to vacate the chair. She wore the tightest, shortest black dress I had ever seen, if one could even call it a dress. It was more like a boob tube pulled down over her ass. She gave me an ice-cold glare then sat in the chair next to Nathan. “Nice outfit,” she said sarcastically.

Looking down, I
realised
what I was wearing. Ah, crap. There she was dressed for going out on the town—or more so, standing on a street corner—and there I was in Aiden’s T-shirt. Oh well, by the looks of it, she would much rather be wearing one of Aiden’s shirts. Pity for
her, that
was never going to happen.

There were a few stifled laughs that I knew stemmed from Anna, Dave, and Aiden hearing my thoughts. But I also received one hell of a scornful look from Georgia, which I couldn’t explain.

Aiden cleared his throat. “As I was about to say, and really should’ve said earlier, Georgia is Nathan’s daughter.”

Georgia was Nathan’s daughter? But Nathan didn’t look old enough to be anyone’s father, let alone have a teenage daughter. And slowly, the penny sank—they were like us.

Holy crap. That meant that both Georgia and Nathan had heard everything I was thinking: the skank, the boob tube, the dressing like a hooker. Well, it was
all true
.

At that thought, I received another dagger look from Georgia.

Nathan opened his mouth to say something. I thought I was going to cop it for what I was thinking, when he turned to Georgia and said, “Well, you kind of do.”

Oh, my God! Did I just hear right? Did Nathan just agree that his daughter looked like a pro?

Georgia stood up, pushing her chair away from her. “I don’t have to put up with this shit. I’m leaving.” She turned around and strutted her stuff out of the room.

“Sorry, I really have to learn how the hell you guys block your thoughts. You and me—” I pointed at Aiden “—we’re not going to sleep tonight ‘til I’ve mastered it.” I gave a quick wave to Dave,
then
took my seat.

“Don’t worry about it. Her dress sense has been getting worse and worse lately.” Nathan picked up a glass of wine, taking a few mouthfuls before continuing, “I’m just glad that if a guy decided to take advantage of her dressed like that, he would probably end up in hospital… if he was lucky.” He snickered.

“Anyway, let’s all dig in before dinner gets cold.” Anna was clearly trying to change the subject.

For the first time, I actually registered what we were eating. And of course it was fit for a king—roast chicken, pork, and beef, with every vegetable imaginable. Also, there were prawns, lobster, crabs, oysters, and my
favourite
, bugs.

Anna smiled. “Thought you might like it.”

Like it?
I loved it! If I could eat it every day, I would. In fact, I used to eat it almost every day in Thailand. They had the freshest of seafood there, straight from the ocean and onto your plate.

Another man who looked to be in his early twenties came rushing through the door. “Sorry I’m late.” He was as good-looking as the rest of the males sitting at the table. He had a golden tan that matched his sandy blond hair, which came down to his shoulders. He wore navy blue board-shorts and one of those white Bonds
singlets
. He looked as if he had just stepped off the beach, but not likely, as we were in England, and who the hell would go surfing in that icy cold weather?

“You guessed it,” the surfer guy said.

“Guessed what?” I had no idea what he was on about. I hadn’t guessed anything.

He dumped his bag on the floor and sat in the chair opposite me. “I was late ’cause I was busy surfing… in Hawaii, that is.” He had a grin plastered across his face. “You should’ve seen it. The waves were unbelievable!” He leaned over the table to knock closed fists with Aiden, who responded by giving one of those typical
male bonding
grunts before he finally decided to introduce me to this surfer guy.

“Jade, this is Kai. Kai, this is Jade.” Aiden stretched his arm around my shoulders and gave me a squeeze.

Kai nodded toward me. “You scored yourself a good one there.” He grabbed a leg of chicken and just about devoured it in one bite.

“You’ll have to excuse Kai’s manners.” Anna gave a scornful look at Kai, which he just shrugged off. “Kai may give the impression that he is a dumb-assed surfer dude who can barely string a sentence together, but the truth is he… how would you say it…?”

“He’s a freaking genius,” Dave said.

“It’s true,” Kai muttered in between bites from another chicken leg, which he chowed as if he were some barbaric cave man.

“Enough about Kai’s not so great etiquette,” Nathan said, interrupting my mind babble about Kai’s manners. “Now the reason why Dave and Anna invited us here—”

Kai interrupted Nathan to give a few grunts for what seemed to be his thanks to Anna for the food.

Nathan shook his head,
then
turned to me. “As I was saying, Dave and Anna invited us here tonight to see if there was more to what happened back in Thailand.”

I shrugged. “What’s to figure out? Didn’t I just stop some terrorist from murdering all those people?”

“Don’t you think it’s a little strange for terrorists to hit a place where only the locals go?” Nathan asked. “They usually go for somewhere that’s packed with tourists for maximum impact with the media. That way, they’re guaranteed to get international news coverage rather than just making the local news, which is what they would have made if you didn’t get all those people out of there.”

That made sense. After all, the so-called terrorist hadn’t looked like the run of the mill ones I had seen training in their terrorist camps on TV. “So what now?” I asked.