A slow smile pulls at my lips, his exuberance contagious. Reality crashes into me seconds later. No matter how much I would like to be what they’ve been waiting for, I’m not. My grin slips. “It’s not me. I’m not what you think. I’m just a girl, a normal girl. I don’t have super powers.”
“You will,” Dante supplies from the couch. I turn to face him, noting the he and Milo have given up the illusion of not listening to our conversation.
“When and how will I get these powers?” I’m incredulous. It’s one thing to make me believe that they have abilities when I can see them with my own eyes, but to convince me I possess them too?
“The when, is a difficult question to answer,” Milo intones. “There hasn’t been an Infinity with five, in a very long time, maybe ever. Plus, we need to know why, or how it is you aren’t registered in our community.”
“You’ve said your mom is sick, right? What about your dad?” Dante leans forward, his elbows braced on his knees.
“My dad died when I was little, two or three. I don’t really remember him, and my mom doesn’t really like talking about him.” Ignoring the TV, I turn to face Dante and Milo.
“I don’t have a mark, a what did you guys call it… indent?”
“Identifier,” Milo corrects me.
“Well I don’t have an identifier.”
“Are you sure? You might not even know, it could look like a birth mark.” Dante grabs the thick leather band on his wrist, spinning it.
I wrinkle my nose, thinking of anything that could be what they’re referring to. “I don’t think so. I don’t even have a birthmark.” I tell them finally.
“This would have showed up around the time you turned sixteen.” Ollie’s eyebrow rises in question. I shake my head in refusal. “You have to have the mark Laura, we can feel you’re connected to us.”
“What if you’re wrong? I’m trying to tell you guys. I’m not some super-secret squirrel. You said that this runs in families, right? So, wouldn’t my mom know something like this about me?” My response is clipped. I’m tired of trying to convince them that I’m not in their Infinity group or whatever.
“Do you remember the first time you touched one of us?” Ollie questions as he pushes one fist into the other, cracking his knuckles. “It felt strange, kinda like an electric charge?”
That I can agree with, touching them is a completely different experience. I look down at my hands, rubbing my thumb over my fingernails. “That’s what you’re basing all this on, that I get a tingle when you guys touch me? That probably has more to do with how sheltered I’ve been than me having abilities. It’s called biology, hormones and pheromones. Attraction,” I add, heat rising in my cheeks.
Dante chuckles and lets his back hit the couch. “While I can admit there’s definitely some major attraction going on,” his eyes track over me lazily, “the tingles, as you call them, are part of the Infinity. It’s part of the process, a hundred years ago they didn’t have a computer database with all the markers cataloged so you can find your grouping. You had to have a way to know if you met your matches. It wasn’t considered polite to strip naked every time you met someone new to compare identifiers.”
“We can try that route though, I’m more than willing to forgo the niceties. The floor is yours,” Ares chimes in. He moves just like the shadows, silent and stealthy. I didn’t hear him enter or come up the stairs. He’s holding four pizza boxes aloft in one hand, with a six-pack of brown glass bottles in the other. Everyone ignores his comment as the guys rise. Our conversation stops in its tracks by his interruption, or the smell of food alone. I think it’s the latter when they all converge on the boxes like hungry wolves.
I have to admit, the smell is divine. For the first time in days I’m actually hungry. Milo opens a cabinet next to the fridge, pulling down a stack of plates. Sliding my hands in my back pockets, I rock on my toes with uncertainty.
Ares grabs the first plate in the stack and lifts the lid of every box, placing a slice from each on the dish. Expecting him to take a seat on the couch, I’m surprised when he bypasses it and instead heads straight in my direction. Ares extends the full plate to me. When I make no move to take it from him he clasps my hand, lifting it to the dish. “I wasn’t sure what you like so I just guessed.” I look down at the variety and my stomach growls. He releases my hand and steps back, leaving me with the pizza.
“Thank you,” I mutter, lowering myself to the floor and folding my legs beneath me. I examine each square slice, deciding on the Hawaiian. Groaning the moment I take the first bite. It’s amazing, the crust is crunchy and thick with buttery goodness coating my fingers. The pineapple is sweet and the ham is salty, providing the most perfect flavor combination.
Looking up I find Dante and Milo on opposite ends of the sofa, while Ares is perched on the arm next to Dante. Ollie comes back to sit next to me on the floor. His dish is filled in much the same way mine is. “S’good?” he nods around a mouth full.
I dust my hands together, spreading the grease without meaning to. “It is. I love deep dish.” We eat in relative quiet; someone has turned the volume of the television up a few notches providing necessary background noise.
I try each slice, deciding Hawaiian is definitely my favorite, but the bacon and pepperoni is a close second. I’m stuff with two almost full pieces remaining. The guys have taken turns getting up to restock their plates more than once.
With my plate balanced in my lap I lean back on my hands. My thoughts continue to circle with the images of Ollie’s hands on fire—they look absolutely normal now, I’ve checked—and Ares’s eyes going black. I think about all the movies and books I’ve read where that happens, and the person is a demon or monster. My eyes dart to the sophisticated man balanced on the arm of the couch and I can’t reconcile the two. He just went and got us pizza, and served it to me, how evil could he be?
Dante catches my attention, when he leans over and tugs the phone from his front pocket. He looks at the screen then tosses the thing on the table like it offended him. Milo leans forward to peer at it with interest. I glance back at the TV as Ollie erupts in a fit of laughter, the canned response from the show echoes along with him.
“Since I was left out of the revelation that you guys found our Synergist—or she found you—why don’t you catch me up on why I was kept in the dark?” Ares folds himself onto the sofa, straightening the cuffs of his white dress shirt. He’s not looking at anyone, but I can tell by his tone he’s not all that happy about the situation. Ollie looks over his shoulder at Ares, then shifts his body to face the trio behind us.
“We wanted to be sure before we told you. Most of us gave up on ever finding our match.” Ollie’s eyes glance at Milo, who shifts in his seat. “But things got complicated.” Now his eyes find me. “Laura wasn’t raised like us, she knows nothing about any of this. We told you yesterday to come home because we thought we had found her—”
“No,” Ares cuts him off. “I called Dante. You only told me yesterday because I already knew something was up.” He voice is hard, his posture rigid.
“We were going to tell you Ares,” Dante growls. “It’s not like we would keep something like this from you.”
“But you did. How long have you suspected she was our match?”
Dante looks away before reluctantly responding, “A week, maybe a little longer.” Ares, who had been looking out into nothing, snaps his head to the left, examining his brother. The blackness of his pupil expands, covering his eyes. “I wasn’t sure at first, she was standoffish. I didn’t know what to think. It didn’t take long to figure out she was clueless.”
“Hey,” I interrupt him. “I’m not clueless, and stop talking about me like I’m not sitting right here.” I lift my arms in a ‘what the fuck’ pose.
“No, not like… I mean you didn’t know about us. See?” He motions to me with his hand, looking at Ares, as if to say ‘see what I’m dealing with?’ “We started trying to spend time with her to
figure out what was going on, but then we made the stupid mistake of actually touching her.” Dante snorts. “Milo’s been a grade a dick for the past few days, Oliver is floating around like he’s high on life, and I have shit I’m dealing with too.” He lets his head fall back on the sofa with a thump and stares up at the ceiling. “I was trying to make things easier on everyone, but it was obviously a fail. You’re pissed, Laura doesn’t believe half of it, and these two…” He shakes his head, not finishing.
Ares stands, moving behind the couch to pace. “You should have told me right away.” His scorn isn’t just for Dante; he gives each of the guys a poignant look. “I get why you might not have been making the most rational choices, but I should have been included.” He stops abruptly and turns so his back is toward me, and his shoulders rise and fall slowly as he lets out a long exhale. “Let’s just move forward.”
I shake my head. “You guys still don’t get it, arguing about this is pointless. I am not your centergist or whatever.”
“Synergist,” Ares corrects. “You are. Of that I have no doubt.”
There’s nothing I can do to convince them. “Prove it,” I challenge, completely suspicious. Ares takes a few steps in my direction and I hold up my hand up to ward him off. “No funny stuff, none of that mind mumbo jumbo.”
The corner of his mouth lifts before he nods his head in mock seriousness. “I would never dream of using my mumbo jumbo on you.”
Ollie sits up straight next to me. “What are you going to do?” He’s looking back and forth between Ares and me.
“I’m going to show her my identifier,” Ares watches me from under his brow, how he perfected this look while standing above me is a thought another time before continuing in a low and sultry voice, “and I’m going to find hers.”
I cast my eyes around, unsure where to look as Ares lowers himself to his knees in front of me. Slowly, he brings his hands up to the fitted vest over his chest and slides the top button open.
I swallow. “Uh, wh… what are you doing?” I glance back at his hands, there is only one button left.
“You wanted proof.” There’s a glint in his tawny eyes, the pupil, while large, doesn’t hide the smoldering gleam. Did I ask for this? The vest is left open as he tugs the bottom of his shirt free from his belted jeans. How far is he going to go? Using his right hand, he lifts his shirt, gathering the material and holding it up so his lower stomach is exposed. His belly button has a trail of dark hair leading down to his pants. My mouth goes dry and my eyes flash up to his. I expected to see him smiling, but instead his eyes are on my lips, no grin in sight.
“You know I could show her mine, right?” Dante mutters from the couch.
“You’ve had days to show her, it’s my turn,” Ares answers without looking away. His left shoulder lifts and he bites his lip. I’m so tempted to look down when his eyes lower, then rise back to mine in invitation. More shifting, and I lose the battle not to look.
Ares’s left thumb is hooked in the waistband of his jeans pushing them down. The swirls of a dark mark are just visible near his hip. As soon as it’s partially exposed, my breath leaves me in a huff. There’s something familiar about it. My fingers lift without consent. Before I realize it, I’m touching his warm skin. Tracing what I can only describe as a Rorschach inkblot.
A low groan reaches my ears and I jerk my hand back. “I’m so sorry, I …” My voice fades off. I don’t even have an excuse to offer. My ears feel hot and I can’t look at any of them.
“Well that went about how I expected,” Milo announces, embarrassing me further. I tuck my hands in my lap and drop my head. “That’s probably enough show and tell for tonight,” he suggests.
“I’m not sure we should do group show and tell for a while,” Ollie’s voice sounds off, deeper than usual. I’m tempted to look over at him, but I can’t bring myself to do it.
Ares knee walks, closing the small distance between us. I feel his fingers glide across the right side of my jaw, trailing up to my ear. A warm flush follows his touch. He tilts my face up. “It’s a compulsion,” he murmurs, “not something you can help cara.”
As his words register, I whisper back, still staring up at him, “I thought we agreed no mind melting?”
“That wasn’t me compelling you. I have no control over the Infinity. That was your proof.” Ares stands, removing his hand from my face, and places it under my elbow. “I’m tired of her sitting on the floor. This room has served its purpose, but I’m back now so let’s go home.” Ares doesn’t wait for a response from anyone. He leads me over to the stairs with a gentle pat on my back to descend. I look around, seeing if the guys are following along as easily as I am. Sure enough, they’re all tagging along, leaving the open pizza boxes and all.
The sun has set, leaving a slight chill in the air. I fold my arms over my chest and tuck my hands into my sides. Milo jogs ahead opening a gate in the black fence surrounding the pool. Ares leads us to one of the French doors at the rear of the house. The door slides open freely, unlocked. I’m the last to enter.
The room is dim; three pendulum lights hang down from the ceiling illuminating a large, rectangular island a few feet in front of me. There are four wooden stools tucked under one of the longer sides. Dante steps up to a panel of wall switches flicking up one as he passes by. Under and above cabinet lights flare to life, casting the room in a warm glow.
The kitchen forms a U around the Island, with the sink and dishwasher on one short side, refrigerator on the other. Opposite the stools is a six-burner stove and all the spare space is lined with ivory cabinets. There’s a closed door tucked away next to the stove. The floors are maple colored wood, and shiny enough to eat off of.
I watch as the guys head to the right, stepping down two steps into a sunken family room. Two long sofas face each other. Against the far wall there’s an empty fireplace with a couple chairs turned into it at one end. It’s cozy with unlit candles and knickknacks dotting the tables and shelves.
Milo sinks into one of the couches, repositioning some of pillows. Ollie drops down on the other end and kicks his feet up, he doesn’t even bother removing his shoes, just leaves them hanging off the edge.
“Laura, have a seat, get comfortable,” Dante offers with a wave of his hand. I go to the corner of the unused sofa and sit. I shift a few times, barely sitting on the edge of the cushion before I give up and scoot all the way back. Immediately the pillows and cushions engulf me. I watch Ares as he slinks past and sits near me in the middle of the couch. I tip a bit as his weight lands. Dante is last to join us and he takes the last corner.
Seconds tick past in silence. Ollie is completely comfortable, his eyes are closed and his hands rest over his stomach. Milo is staring at his phone, his thumbs flying over the screen. Ares leans in close to me, his voice hushed, “Are they always like this?”
I bite my lip and nod. Half the time I’m around them is filled with awkward silence, the other with my wondering what the hell I’m doing with them. “You should’ve seen the first time they asked me to hangout. I just got done with a shift at the diner, they asked if I wanted to stay and eat. I said yes.” I wave my hand dismissively. “It was a fluke, I didn’t feel like going home yet. They just sat and stared at me a bunch. I thought I had food on my face.” A laugh bursts free from Ares as he scans the others,who all seemed to be engrossed in something other than us.
“Tell me more.” Ares turns to face me putting his elbow on the back of the cushion.
“Like what?”
He shrugs. “What else have you guys gotten up to?” Ares’s eyes flick down to my mouth then back up.
Happy to have a distraction I decide to vent all the strangeness from the guys. I peek at Dante first. He’s rubbing his hands up and down his thighs. “Dante told his girlfriend I asked for his help in art, and now she, and all her friends hate me,” I blurt before I change my mind.
Dante leans his head past Ares to look at me. “I did not.” He sounds like I ju
st accused him of kicking a kitten.
“She told me Dante.” I can’t believe I’m actually still kinda mad about it. He stands when I roll my eyes and his mouth drops open like he’s going to argue. “Milo, he was nice to me at first, but now he’s a jerk most of the time. I mean, I might have flirted with Ollie a little bit,” I push my fingers close together, “but that was before I knew they were boyfriends. And to be honest, I didn’t even realize I was doing it, until he started getting mad.”
Ares’s eyes go wide, and he covers his smile with his hand. I chance a look in Milo’s direction. His phone is in his lap, like he might have dropped it. His face a little pale. “And Ollie flirts with me all the time, right in front of Milo.” Getting the courage, I slant my eyes in his direction. “You shouldn’t do that Ollie, it’s not fair to Milo.” Next, I meet Dante’s stare. “And you… Delaney is not nice, she’s like every mean girl rolled into one, but you shouldn’t treat her like you do either. You act like she’s your stalker, not your girlfriend.”
Ares leans his head back and shakes it slowly, his eyes still blown wide. “What in the actual fuck have you guys been doing here?” His tone is edged with humor, and a little incredulousness.
“Ares shut up,” Dante barks, taking a few steps in my direction. His face is hard as he points a finger in my direction. I sink back into the couch. Ares reaches up and puts his palm over Dante’s chest, stopping his approach. Dante looks down at his brother, then his eyes dart back to me. His shoulders drop slightly. “Delaney is not my girlfriend. I’m doing the artwork for the school yearbook. She’s the head of the committee. I have to work on it after school to get the extra credit.”
Infinity Chronicles Book One: A Paranormal Reverse Harem Series Page 13
