“You’re right, Lay,” said Pax suddenly. “You figured us out. I hired this woman to mess with Thorn’s head... and Mara wanted her to hurt Ash. We decided she could kill two birds with one stone.”
“She’s a complete professional at what she does,” Amara added. “She’s seduced and ruined many high profile men and we figured she could do the same for us.”
Layla placed a hand on her head and walked over to the sofa and abruptly sat down. She leaned back in against the cushions and sighed.
“Please don’t tell the boys, Layla?” Pax pleaded.
“If you need... incentive to keep quiet, I can offer you any amount you wish,” Amara added.
Layla stared at the girls silently for a moment, looking back and forth from one to the other before speaking slowly:
“After all these years. After so many years of close friendship. After all of the secrets I’ve kept for you two. After all that we’ve been through together.” Layla rose to her feet again as she continued, a deep frown creasing her bronze skin. “How is it that you two, my dearest friends in the world, still don't trust me?”
“Layla,” said Pax softly.
“You’re offering to pay me to keep quiet?” The deva women glanced at each other as Layla collapsed again in the sofa.
“I didn’t mean to insult you,” said Amara, moving over to sit beside her friend and take her hands. “Please understand, Lay. This whole revenge scheme, while it’s probably immature and petty... it’s very important to us. If the guys find out, not only will it ruin our plan, but everyone will hate us. The guys would be so pissed.”
“Do you think I’m stupid?” Layla asked harshly. “I’ll have you know I am very good at what I do. I was considered to be one of the best before I had my kids and quit the force.”
“We know you’re an amazing detective...” Pax began.
“Then why won’t you tell me the truth!” Layla shouted.
Amara and Pax were hushed by her outburst. Layla immediately regained her composure, and smiled sweetly. She calmed down and folded her hands in her lap as she spoke:
“Even after I found enough evidence to support the theory that you two had hired her, I kept digging. Something still didn’t add up to me. If you two were so focused on revenge, why would you go into the vector zone? And why would you hire this particular woman?”
“Layla, we…”
“Shut up. I got several fingerprint samples from cups of coffee she touched while on a date with Thorn a while ago.”
She got Para’s fingerprints!
She takes her job very seriously. Do you think it can incriminate us?
I have no idea.
Layla crossed her arms over her chest. “I went to the precinct and ran her fingerprints... and guess what?”
“What?” asked Amara, holding her breath and expecting the worst.
“I found nothing. There was no record of her in the system.”
Pax and Amara both exhaled little sighs of relief. Pax spoke up. “I guess she doesn’t have a criminal record then?”
“Not in this country at least. It couldn’t tell me anything. Fingerprinting software is pretty elementary. It looks for exact matches, and it doesn't really give partial or possible family matches. Iris scans are best, but I couldn't exactly go up to Thorn’s new girlfriend and say, ‘Hey, can I shine a laser in your eye to see if you have a criminal record anywhere in the world?’ That wouldn’t be too discreet.”
“So I guess you hit a dead end?” asked Amara hopefully. She tried to read Layla’s thoughts, but they were mostly angry repetitions of, Why don’t they trust me?
“I did. A huge dead end. I found myself holding the evidence bag with the coffee cup and just staring at it for about an hour, looking for inspiration. I was waiting for the coffee cup to grow a mouth and tongue and vocal chords and talk to me. I was completely out of ideas.”
Layla smiled. “Then it did suddenly talk to me.”
Pax cringed, knowing what was coming. Damn. I’m sorry, Amara.
“I noticed a small crack running down the side of the mug,” said Layla. “I ran logistics on it—it turns out that the pressure that caused it to crack was perfectly distributed between the thumb and forefinger fingerprints. Whoever was holding the mug was strong enough to crush it with her bare hands.”
Layla glanced knowingly at her friends. “How many women in the world are capable of that? Excluding the two women I’m sitting with in this room of course.”
“Probably a few dozen at least,” said Pax casually, trying to hide her frantic heart rate. “Like, lots. Right, Mara?”
“Sure,” said Amara. “Uh, you know—anyone with a strong grip, really. She must be tough.”
“Uh huh,” said Layla, raising her eyebrow. “Well, I considered that. I considered that maybe you two hired an exceptionally strong woman for the task. Until I saw this article.”
Layla retrieved a magazine from her purse and flipped forward to the page which she had marked. “I found this tabloid article called, ‘How CEO Thorn Kalgren Likes His Women’—they’ll publish anything these days, won’t they? Anyway, the article compares Medea’s body to Pax’s and what I saw kind of shocked me.”
Pax took the tabloid from Layla and skimmed the page. “My measurements? They somehow have my measurements?” said Pax in disbelief.
“And Medea’s measurements,” added Amara, glancing at the article nervously.
How do they have her measurements? asked Pax mentally.
“Apparently your ‘Medea’ tried on a corset—in Isadora's Intimates, of all places,” said Layla with a knowing look at the girls. “Amara’s favorite store. We used to shop there all the time. Anyway, the store owner was more than happy to give up this information. Don’t you find it interesting that she has your exact measurements, Pax?”
“Lots of women do. Walk down the street and ask a random skinny girl who exercises regularly what her measurements are, and they’ll probably match mine.”
“Uh huh,” said Layla again, rolling her eyes. “Well, as I was looking at this article, someone in the precinct suggested to me that I give the new software a try.”
“Software?”
“Biometrics,” Layla clarified. “And it did help. Finally, after a hundred dead ends. I ran her face through the facial recognition software, and guess what I found, girls?”
“What is it, Layla?” Amara glanced at Pax uneasily. I feel so screwed right now.
“Don’t you know what?” she asked bitingly. “I didn’t bring Oren here with me, and I hardly ever have been separated from him since his birth—you know why?”
“Why?” asked Pax, as her foot nervously began to tap the ground.
“So I could fucking swear at you two fucking idiots!” Layla shrieked. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing? Fusing! You’re fucking fusing?”
“I guess the facial recognition software is pretty efficient,” observed Amara.
“Efficient! Yes, it’s efficient!” Layla was livid. “Are you two out of your minds?”
“Probably,” said Pax.
“She matches you 50%,” said Layla, pointing at Amara angrily, before turning to Pax, "and you for the other 50%. Exactly.”
“And you haven’t told anyone about this?” asked Pax.
“Of course I haven’t told anyone! How many times do I have to remind you that I am your goddamned friend?”
The room became very silent. Water was heard dripping from the faucet in the kitchen.
Pax and Amara stared at Layla with expressionless faces. Amara suddenly looked over at Pax.
“Quit thinking along those lines!”
“I can’t help it,” Pax grumbled. “It’s the simplest solution. It worked when we were kids.”
Layla suddenly realized that her position was rather precarious, and she swallowed her saliva in a gulp. Would the deva women attempt to... silence her? They certainly could overpower her without much effort. Layla’s thoughts drifted to w
here her phone rested against her waist, and she thought of speed-dialing her husband. She knew she couldn’t speed-dial faster than Pax could move.
“Yes, but we’re not kids anymore and it’s no longer cute to lock Layla up in the basement. She has kids of her own she needs to take care of now.”
Pax looked questioningly at Amara. “So what are we going to do with her? Do you have a better plan?”
“No. I don’t know. Paxie, quit imagining that! Keeping her locked up in the basement is definitely not the solution. I can’t even remember to feed a dog; there’s no way I’d remember to feed Layla.”
Layla rolled her eyes. “There’s a reason I came here instead of going directly to Rose! Or worse, directly to the guys. I’m your friend. I can keep a secret!”
Should we trust her?
I don't think we have any other options.
Pax and Amara sighed together. Amara was the first to look at Layla. “Alright, Lay. We trust you. Please, please, please don’t tell my mom or anyone else.”
“I would never!”
“What Mara meant to say,” said Pax softly, raising her index finger and directing a small dark orange sphere of energy to gather above the digit, "is that it would be very unwise to tell anyone. I wouldn’t want there to be any unexpected consequences. If you know what I mean.”
Pax kept her fist very still, but she waved her index finger back and forth in a sinister way. Layla’s eyes followed the small prana ball back and forth, and she knew that Pax could rip right through her chest with that attack and that she would die almost instantly. She also knew that there was no way in hell that Pax would actually do something like that.
“Really, Paxie?” asked Layla staring at her friend suspiciously. “First Mara tries to buy me out, and now you’re threatening me? You girls are acting insane. You wouldn’t hurt me, Pax. It’s against your values. You have never hurt me before.”
“I’ve changed,” Pax said sternly. She tried to imitate Vincent’s menacing scowl. “I don’t know what I’m capable of anymore.”
“Except for that one time,” Layla corrected thoughtfully. “When you were six years old and I was dating Thorn. I was relaxing in the sauna at the Compound spa when suddenly my hair caught on fire. I never saw who did it, but I was pretty positive it was you.”
Amara suddenly started giggling. “Did you really do that, Paxie?”
Pax felt her scowl soften. “It wasn’t me. Probably a faulty sauna.” She cleared her throat.
“That wasn’t cool. It really wasn’t cool. Bald isn’t the right look for me. But anyway, this whole deception is cool! Mainly because for once, I’m not the target of your conspiracy!” Layla’s eyes began to twinkle with an evil glare. “Even though this merging-to-date-your-ex-boyfriends thing is pretty messed up and a tad bit obsessive... I think it’s going to be your best prank ever. I’m excited to see how it turns out!”
“Really?” asked Pax. “You... like the concept?”
“I do,” said Layla with a smile. “It’s brilliant! I’m not sure what exactly you have planned out for them... but knowing you two, I can’t possibly be disappointed. Personally, I’ve always wanted to see Thorn and Ash burn—especially since I dated them when we were younger and found out what losers demigods can be when it comes to relationships.”
Pax and Amara nodded sympathetically.
“Great in bed, though,” said Layla whimsically. “They were both just… So. Great. In. Bed.”
Pax and Amara both nodded again, empathetically—and a bit emphatically.
“Don’t tell Gord I said that,” said Layla with a tone of warning. “Not that my husband has any reason to be jealous...” Layla gazed off dreamily as she rested her elbow on the arm of the sofa and placed her chin in the palm of her hand. “Did I ever tell you two—“
“What a giant, amazing, incredible, charming, captivating, magnificent, colossal cock Gordin has?” finished Amara almost routinely. “Yeah, Lay, you have. Only about a million times in the past ten years. Be careful with that thing, or you’ll end up pregnant again.”
“And so what if I do? My kids are my happiness,” Layla said. “Not to mention that Nyssa came back in time and gave us that warning. If we do manage to save the world, it will be largely due to the bravery of my darling little girl.”
“True,” Pax said with a smile.
“Now,” said Layla, leaning forward seriously. “I just want to know a few things about Para—why did you include her real name in her fake identification? Rose is a genius, she could figure out that ‘Para’ is a combination of both your names. I still have to give her a report on all my findings, you know.”
“We wanted Para’s I.D. to really be her identification... she isn’t just some silly game, she’s actually a person. As weird as this sounds, we wanted to respect that, and respect her individuality by letting her keep own name.”
“I see,” said Layla, curiously. “I vaguely remember what Ashton was like. I saw him once—he was a real character, nothing like either of the guys. Major attitude! A real creep if you ask me.”
“Para’s got something of an attitude too,” Pax confessed.
“There’s another thing I don’t understand. As far as I remember, when Thorn and Ash joined bodies, their energy was so powerful that even people who weren’t used to sensing energy; humans like Rose, Amelia, and me—everyone could feel the intense prana emanating from him. So if Para has been spending time with the guys, why haven’t they been able to sense that she’s unusually powerful?”
Pax smirked. “Easy. We keep her constantly drugged with massive doses of tranquilizers.”
“Clever,” said Layla, placing a finger on the side of her mouth thoughtfully, “but don’t the drugs have negative effects on your daily lives?”
“We sleep a lot more,” said Amara. “It’s harder to wake up.”
“You should be careful,” Layla cautioned. “You don’t want to damage your health over a game. How is the thirty-minute limit working out?”
“It’s tricky, but we’ve been managing,” said Pax.
“Maybe I can help,” Layla said. “I could call the boys away on some ‘emergency’ if you girls are ever in a tight spot. I’ll also fake the report which I give to Rose. She even wants to see a doctor’s note from a recent physical exam that says Medea Meadows has no sexually transmittable diseases or communicable illnesses.”
“I can draw up some fake files for you,” said Pax. “Rose is really thorough, isn’t she?”
“Mom’s so overprotective of Thorn,” Amara complained. “She doesn’t let anyone near him unless she’s examined their cells under a microscope. I sometimes wonder if she’d do the same for my boyfriends.”
Pax grinned. “I guess if you ever have any boyfriends other than Asher we’ll find out.”
Amara scoffed and used her mind to pelt the nearest heavy object at Pax. The dark-haired girl easily dodged the projectile.
“Well, girls. I actually have one condition that I’d like you to meet in order for me to keep this whole situation a secret,” said Layla, smirking. “Consider it a favor for wasting my time and making me investigate when you should have just come clean with me in the beginning.”
Great. Think she's going to try to blackmail us? asked Amara telepathically.
For what? We already offered her money and death. Blackmail’s not her style. Let's just see what she wants.
“I want to meet her,” Layla said.
“You want to meet Para?” Pax asked in surprise.
“Yes. I want to meet my new friend!” said Layla eagerly.
“Aw, Lay,” said Amara, deeply moved. “Of course you can meet her!”
“Good.” Layla stood up and adjusted her purse on her shoulder smugly. “I figure that if you two combine your maturity levels it might almost create a woman who is enough of an adult for me to have something in common with.”
“Ouch. Burn!” Amara laughed and threw a pillow at Layla.
Lay
la smiled, catching the pillow. “It’s too bad, ladies. We could have had much more fun messing with the guys if it weren’t for the whole end-of-the-world thing.”
“The planet hasn’t been blown to bits just yet,” Pax said with a smile. She rummaged in the pile of texts before handing Layla one of the few books that had been translated to English. “Here. See if there’s anything in this that can help. You never know. Maybe reading the right book is all that it takes to save the world.”
* * *
Rose sat at her vanity table in a satin robe, brushing her hair with shaking hands. Vincent had just informed her of his intentions to use the self-destruction technique. She tried to focus on pulling the hairbrush through her shoulder-length blonde hair (which would have been heavily speckled with grey if not for regular dyeing) but she could not seem to keep her hands steady.
Slamming the hairbrush down on the little table, she turned around to gaze at her husband indignantly. “Explain it to me. Just why do you want to do this, Vince? I thought you didn’t care about the human race.”
“I don’t,” he answered, shifting in bed to look at her. “I care about you and the kids.”
“I will be fine and the kids will be fine,” she insisted, rising to her feet. “We will be safely tucked away in a bomb shelter until this passes over…”
“And how many years will you need to stay underground until the atmosphere is cleared?” Vincent asked, getting out of bed so he could stand up and argue with her face-to-face. “What kind of life is that?”
“Without you, it is no life,” Rose answered, stepping forward to look him squarely in the eye. “Listen, Vince—we may have failed, but we tried our very best. So accept defeat with me, and let’s lay low until you can rise again and take the victory you deserve. We’ll restore what we’ve lost someday and reestablish ourselves greater than we ever were.”
“No. I won’t accept defeat!” Vincent said firmly.
“Listen to me,” Rose said softly. “I will go mad without you. If you kill yourself to save this planet, I will personally take it upon myself to destroy everything that you have saved, just to spite you. I’ll stuff bombs inside all the bomb shelters. I’ll unload all the nuclear weapons I already have. I’ll release noxious chemicals into the water and the atmosphere. It will be rich! I’ll find a way—maybe I’ll join up with the Asura. There are a thousand ways, and I have all the resources. It’s much easier to destroy than it is to protect. Unless you stay by my side, I will become a larger threat to this world than that fucking comet! Do you understand me, Vincent Kalgren, King of Gods?”
Thirty Minutes to Heartbreak Box Set (Books 1-3) Page 56
