Twisted (32 page)

A
DEN WATCHED THE FLAMES
.
Felt their heat. Heard their crackle. Tucker was dead; this wasn't an illusion.

He stood motionless. Disbelieving. Not an illusion, but this was a dream, a nightmare, surely.
Surely
the vampire mansion was not burning down before his eyes. Surely there was more than falling timber left.

He'd been gone only a few days. A while ago, Seth had texted him that things were okay. As okay as they could be, considering what had happened to Ryder and Shannon. But now…

“I don't…this can't be…” Victoria covered her mouth with her hand, her shock as deep as his.

The souls—the only two remaining souls—were shocked speechless.

Junior wasn't roaring. Maybe because Aden was numb. So numb.

He and Victoria had searched for Riley and Mary Ann, the rain battering at them, but they'd found no trace of the pair. They'd decided to come home and recruit a few wolves. Nathan and Maxwell hadn't picked up when he'd called.

Though his emotions had been raw, he'd somehow pulled himself together and teleported with Victoria, an ability that still amazed him. He just thought about where he wanted to be, and
boom,
he was there.

He'd expected to find Sorin, get a report about what had happened while he was gone, visit Ryder, make sure he was still on the mend, visit Shannon, gauge his condition for himself, visit Seth, maybe talk to Maxwell and find out if he'd learned anything new. The information he'd gathered in that secret room at the hospital might not have been important for Julian, but it could pertain to the other two souls. Then, Aden had planned to put the search party together. He'd felt no true urgency to do so, because he'd figured Riley and Mary Ann were still arguing. Or holed up somewhere making up.

He'd noticed the fire—how could he have missed it?—and at first, hadn't realized what was happening. He'd thought he'd simply imagined the wrong place. But, no. That was the vampire mansion in front of him,
the ward in the ground the only thing untouched by the flames.

There was no one running from the crackling remains, no one screaming. No one was trying to stop the inferno from spreading.

How many had burned to death inside?

How many were hiding and safe?

He was king, and he should have been here. Should have protected them. He hadn't.

“I have no words,” Victoria whispered. Then, she found them. “My sisters…my brother…my friends…they're all right. Tell me they're all right.”

“They're…all right.” He hoped. He prayed.

He doubted.

A whimper escaped her. “Who…who could have done this?”

Your father,
he wanted to say but didn't. Vlad had burned down the D and M ranch, so why not his former home, too? The vampire was
that
vindictive and wouldn't hesitate to slaughter his own children to get what he wanted: revenge against Aden.

Victoria's knees must have given out, because she crumbled to the ground. The dry ground. Rain hadn't fallen here. Not yet. The sky was an expanse of black velvet, no twinkling stars in sight.

Fall,
he thought.
Help us.

A raindrop splashed against his nose. His chin. For several minutes, he felt a drop here, a drop there, then the heavens opened up and the storm descended with a fury. Soon, the fire sputtered to sparks, the sparks to smoke.

Maybe he could control the weather now, he thought with a bitter laugh.

How had things gotten this far? How had they come to this?

“What are we going to do?” Victoria asked shakily.

There were no viable answers to that question. Nothing he suggested would be good enough. Nothing he suggested would bring…everyone…back….

Light-headed, Aden eased beside her on the cold, now wet ground. There was a way. One he'd resisted. One he despised. Everyone always asked him to do it, and lately, he'd only said no.

He wasn't going to say no this time.

“I—I can fix this,” he found himself saying.

No, Aden,
Elijah said, pulling himself out of his stupor.
I know what you're thinking. Don't do it.

Had the soul had a vision about this? “There's no other way.” Flat, determined.

Victoria rubbed at her eyes with the back of her hand. “Aden?”

“Time travel,” he said. He wasn't going to ask Elijah if, what, he'd seen. He wasn't going to try and force a vision himself. He didn't want to know, not now. He didn't want to talk himself out of this. “I'm going to time travel. I'll go back. I'll make sure this doesn't happen.”

“Yes! Yes, that's perfect and…no.” She vehemently shook her head. “Too much can go wrong. You told me that yourself.”

And we don't know if the vampires were killed,
Elijah said.
They could have run. They could have teleported like you. You might go back for nothing.

Yes, some could have run. Yes, some could have teleported. But not all of them. Not the humans who had been inside. One death was too many. Going back wouldn't be for nothing.

The weight of this failure dragged him down so low he wasn't sure he'd ever see the light of day. Even if he managed to change things, he would not forget what had happened, and would know what to do—and what not to do. He never forgot.

They would forget, though. All of them. Victoria, Mary Ann, Riley. They would have no idea what had once transpired, the fate that once awaited them.

And if this worked, Vlad would not war with Aden—he would war with Dmitri, because Dmitri would become king. Victoria would be forced to marry the man. The thought caused Aden's hands to fist. He wasn't going to change his mind, though.
This
was being proactive.

Riley would keep his wolf.

Mary Ann would not become a drainer.

Aden would never meet Mary Ann. Would never summon the creatures of the otherworld here.

Ryder would live.

Hell, Tucker would live.

Shannon would not become a zombie.

The D and M ranch would not burn to the ground, and Brian would not die inside it.

Aden would not become a vampire. Junior would not be created.

Victoria would not become a human, would not lose her abilities.

Perhaps Eve and Julian would even return to him.

“I have to do this,” he said. “I can't leave things like this.” As Mary Ann had said, what could be worse than this?

Do you really want to find out?
Elijah asked.

I should be on board for this,
Caleb said.
I thought I would be. But something seems off. Wrong.

“You're not usually the voice of reason. Don't start trying to be now.”

“Aden, listen to me. Answer me.” Victoria shook her head, wet hair slapping at his cheeks, then shook him. “Go back to when?”

“To the beginning.”

Her eyes widened, the implications putting furious color in her cheeks. “Let's talk about this. Think it through. If you go back, will Eve return to you? Will Julian? What about you? Your beast? Will you still be a vampire?”

“Probably. Maybe. I don't know. Probably not. Definitely not. Maybe.”

“Your wards—”

“Will never have been applied.” He leaned over and pressed a soft kiss into her lips. “I love you. You know that, right?”

He should have done this a long time ago. Should have listened to everyone when they'd asked him to do it. Instead, he'd let fear and stubbornness rule him. And look where it had gotten him.

“Yes.” Blue eyes studied him, sad, almost defeated. “I love you, too. But there has to be another way to—”

“There's not.” If things worked out the way he hoped
they would, he and Victoria would never meet. Never get to know each other.

Never cause such a cataclysmic event.

He'd rather meet her and deal with this, but he wouldn't. And that was love.

Like his parents had given him up, he was going to give Victoria up. Unlike his parents, he wasn't doing it for himself but for her.

In the end, this was going to kill him. He could walk by her, and she would not know him, but he would know her.

“Aden, just give me a chance to—”

“This is the only way. I know that now.” He kissed her again, a deeper kiss than he'd ever given her. A soul-shattering kiss. Their last kiss. He let her feel all of his longing, all of his dreams. All of his regrets. All of his prayers for the future.

And when he pulled back, he was trembling. She was crying. He tasted those tears in his mouth, a little salty, a lot heartbreaking.

He wiped those tears away with an unsteady hand, and then he did what was necessary. He closed his eyes and imagined the day he'd first met Mary Ann….

Blood-slaves
Humans addicted to a vampire's bite.

Bloody Mary
Queen of a vampire faction that's rival to Vlad's.

Brian
Resident of the D and M, died when the ranch burned down.

Brendal
Fairy princess, sister to Thomas.

Caleb
A soul trapped inside Aden's head. Can possess other bodies.

Chompers
Demon beast that lives inside Victoria.

D and M Ranch
A halfway house for wayward teens.

Dan Reeves
Owner of the D and M Ranch.

Dmitri
Deceased betrothed of Victoria.

Dr. Morris Gray
Mary Ann's father.

Drainer
A human who feeds from and ultimately destroys those with supernatural abilities.

Draven
Vampire female, challenged Victoria for the right to Aden.

Edina
Victoria's mother.

Elijah
A soul trapped inside Aden's head. Can predict the future.

Eve
A soul formerly trapped inside Aden's head. A time traveler.

Fairies
Protectors of mankind, enemies to vampires.

Goblins
Small, flesh-hungry creatures.

Haden Stone
Known as Aden. A human who attracts the supernatural and has three humans souls trapped in his head.

Je la nune
A poisonous liquid that burns vampire skin.

Jennifer
A witch.

Julian
Soul trapped inside Aden's head. Can raise the dead.

Lauren
Vampire princess, Victoria's sister.

Maddie
Vampire female, sister to Draven.

Marie
A witch.

Mary Ann Gray
Human turned drainer. Repels the supernatural.

Maxwell
Werewolf shape-shifter, Riley's cursed brother.

Meg Reeves
Dan's wife.

Nathan
Werewolf shape-shifter, Riley's cursed brother.

Penny Parks
Mary Ann's best friend.

Riley
Werewolf shape-shifter, guardian of Victoria.

RJ
Former resident of the D and M.

Ryder
Resident of the D and M.

Seth
Resident of the D and M.

Shannon Ross
Aden's roommate at the D and M.

Sorin
Vampire prince, Victoria's older brother.

Stephanie
Vampire princess, Victoria's sister.

Teleport
To move one's body from one location to

another in an instant.

Terry
Former resident of the D and M.

Thomas
Fairy prince, ghost.

Tucker Harbor
Mary Ann's ex-boyfriend, part-demon illusionist.

Vampires
Those who live off human blood and have a beast trapped inside them.

Victoria
Vampire princess.

Vlad the Impaler
Former king of Romanian vampire faction.

Witches
Spell-weavers, magic producers.

Q:
Aden Stone has grown up with little understanding and a lot of pain and still has become a caring, compassionate person with a healthy sense of right and wrong. What was the inspiration behind this strong and complex hero?

A:
I am surrounded by heroes. My father, husband, brothers. They are men who would take a bullet to protect their loved ones. (And, yes, even me.) I like to think Aden has their courage and their deep sense of loyalty. And I so admire them for those traits because, honestly, I curl into a ball and hide at the first sign of trouble.

Q:
In Aden's first story,
Intertwined
, you included yourself in your dedication, “Because this one almost killed me,” you said. Has writing the Intertwined Novels gotten easier as you've continued? How do you keep all the story threads straight?

A:
Gotten easier? God, no! Each one has been more difficult than the last, and I swear
Twisted
grayed my hair. (I'd also swear that extra ten pounds I picked up is
Twisted's
fault, too, and has nothing to do with that bread pudding.) The characters are growing, evolving, and so are
the happenings around them. As for keeping the threads straight, I'd love to tell you how organized I am, how I keep everything in a Word doc or a notebook. Yeah. I'd really love to tell you that. Instead, I have to admit that everything is jumbled inside my head, and I have to fit the pieces together after I've written my first draft.

Q:
Which one of the Intertwined Novels characters do you relate to most, and why?

A:
I'm probably a mix of Aden and the souls. All my life I've had people living inside my head—story characters—and they do talk to me. I talk to them, too, and it used to freak my family out. I'm a homebody who rarely leaves the house. My smart mouth sometimes gets me into trouble, and yet I'm a mediator who wants everyone around her to be happy (except when
I'm
the one who's angry, and then all bets are off). I love my family and friends more than anything, and—I'm just gonna say it—my mind sweeps through the gutter upon occasion.

Q:
In the Intertwined Novels, vampires are living, breathing creatures who sleep in beds and can go out in daylight. How did you come up with the vampire mythology for this series?

A:
One of my favorite things to do is play with mythology. Using certain already accepted aspects helps ground the world I hope to create in reality, and twisting those
same aspects adds flavor. I knew I wanted my vamps to exist in differing stages. The younger vamps, who are the most humanlike (except for their raging need for blood), the middle-of-the-roaders, who begin to exhibit more vampirelike/supernatural abilities, and the elders, who are very much like the vampires of legend. That way, there is always a change to anticipate…or dread.

Q:
Aden and Mary Ann have evolved from students working to get through high school into targets for all of paranormal-kind. What's your most memorable moment from high school, and how did it change you?

A:
Once I walked in the cafeteria and a “friend” lifted my skirt—and held it up while I twisted and turned trying to cover my…assets. She thought it was hilarious. I was mortified. For several seconds that seemed like an eternity, everyone got a peek at my undies. While there was nothing I could do to change what had happened, I learned that being treated with respect is hugely important, there are boundaries friends should never cross, and that it's okay to end a toxic relationship.

Q:
Riley's primary job is to guard Victoria, a duty that is both rewarding and frustrating. What are the best and worst jobs that you've ever had?

A:
I've worked as an aircraft title searcher (interesting), a calendar sales girl (frustrating), a food service provider
(stressful), a day-care worker (really stressful), and a nurse's assistant (really,
really
stressful). What I learned: I truly enjoy sleeping in, and I suck at customer service. My favorite job is, hands down, writing. I'm doing what I love: creating, weaving stories. And I get to sleep in. Of course, I work seven days a week and sometimes fifteen hours a day, but it's totally worth it!

Q:
When did you first realize you wanted to be an author, and what was your journey to publication like?

A:
I'd already dropped out of college three times and quit what seemed like a thousand jobs. Before I could allow myself to venture down the writing road, I had to prove I could actually finish a book. So, I wrote that first one in three months—and it sucked. But I'd done it, I'd written it from beginning to end, and as difficult as it was, I loved the process. I wrote another and another and kept sending them to publishers—and kept receiving rejections. Until that seventh book, about five years later. Finally, in 2004 I had a taker! Harlequin and I have been working together ever since.

Q:
What advice do you have for anyone who aspires to be an author?

A:
Read, read, read, and write, write, write. The more you read, the more you'll subconsciously understand story structure. The more you write, the more you'll understand
your own process and how to maximize your strengths. Also, write from the heart, not what you think others would want you to write. You do, and you'll find your story magic. Oh, and never give up. Giving up is the only sure way to fail.

Thank you, Gena!