Finding Maddox (The Road to Truth Book 3)
Page 21
“I’m drinking it then?” I ask cautiously.
“As long as you want to,” Callan says, as he settles into the recliner.
“Of course I want to. I want to know what I am, if anything.” I take a sip of my drink that I know for sure has a name. It’s called Sex on the Beach, and it’s delicious. When I asked for it, Maddox and his smart mouth had to reply with “yes, please. Shall we go now?”. He’s so fucking smooth it’s annoying. Ugh, but it turns my insides to mush. It’s pathetic.
“You are. You have to be. And as for the telepathic connection? We should talk about that. Seems we are gaining abilities. Callan gained his new power, the vision thing.” Maddox adds, finishing his beer and standing to grab another. He stops by Alec raising his brows in question, shaking his empty can. Alec nods, finishes his beer and hands it off to Maddox.
I mean, I haven’t been around these guys for long, but I have a feeling that I just witnessed a milestone.
“That only happened once, we can’t be sure it was a new ability. It could have been a freak, one-time thing,” Callan tells us, sipping on his Scotch. Ugh, even the smell of it turns my stomach. Not a fan.
“How do we test that?” I’m curious.
“It happened when you were in danger, so I don’t think there is a good way to test it.” Lenny gives me a reassuring smile and squeezes my thigh. “And, why didn’t he know about The Whisper breaking in?”
“That is a good point. Perhaps he wasn’t going to kill us? Or maybe because I was out from the sleeping agent? Or, because it was a one time thing. Better to let it be as it is for now.” Callan adds.
“Lenny hasn’t gained a new ability yet, not that we know of, and Alec hasn’t either, since he’s the only one that hasn’t gotten his dick wet yet, that much should be obvious. It only makes sense that I would gain one. But why hasn’t Lenny?” Maddox hands Alec an unopened beer, cracks his open and takes a swig. Getting comfy in his seat beside me.
Lenny jumps up from the couch, startling me in the process. His hands cover his face and he spins in a circle. “Guys! Wait! Fuck, I totally forgot!”
“Forgot what?” We all ask in unison. Yeah, all of us. We share a look and then shrug, all eyes back on Lenny
“I did gain a new power. I hadn’t even thought of it since it happened, because… well, I don’t know, because I just forgot, I guess.” Lenny scratches his head, tilting it and looking at the wall above our heads.
“Spit it out, dude! What is it?” Maddox shouts.
“I don’t know what it’s called. It happened when the Whisper was here. You guys were all out still. I set the ice trap, and then I needed rope to tie him up. I didn’t do anything other than wonder where the hell Callan would keep some rope. And then... wait for this,” he points to us with a huge grin on his face. “I was a squirrel.”
Dead. Silence.
“A squirrel?” Maddox asks, skeptically.
Lenny takes his bottom lip between his teeth, still grinning a mile wide and nods slowly. We look around at each other, all with the same expression.
Disbelief. Curiosity. I sense embarrassment from Alec.
“You turned into a… squirrel?” I ask, trying to hide my doubt.
“No, no, no. I didn’t turn into a squirrel, I was the squirrel.” He nods vigorously.
“What exactly did you put in that drink of yours?” Alec asks, eyeing the purple drink suspiciously. Lenny’s shoulders slump down, he loses his smile. “You guys don’t believe me?”
“It’s not that we don’t believe you, that’s just… uh, strange?” I look to Callan for help, and he nods. “Can you explain better?” I’m not trying to hurt his feelings or anything, but he’s so excited about being a squirrel. A tiny, fuzzy, adorable, harmless… squirrel.
Lenny lets out a quick rush of breath before continuing. “Okay. I was trying to find out where there would be some rope, and then I blinked, and I was the squirrel. I didn’t turn into the squirrel, but I saw through its eyes, I guess. I was suddenly a squirrel that was hanging outside in that big tree.” Lenny points towards the back yard and we all look to that general direction. “And then it was like I was controlling him. It moved to the shed, crawled up to the rope and then the next thing I know, I’m back in the kitchen and the rope pops up. You guys know that I can’t pull things out of nowhere, but if I know where it is then I can summon it. So, I guess that’s what happened. I needed to see it before I could get to it.” He shrugs, like he’s telling us about the weather, and not the fact that he turned into a squirrel and forgot to mention it.
We all stay silent for a few moments. Lenny’s eyes widen, waiting for some kind of response. I don’t know what to say without upsetting him further. Clearly, we’re killing his excitement. Finally, Callan speaks up. “Lenny, you’re right. It’s called linking.”
“Well, duh.” Lenny crosses his arms over his chest. “I was there, I can’t be wrong about that.”
“It took me a few moments, but since you’ve explained it better, I do know what you’re talking about. It’s sort of like having a Familiar, but I don’t think that’s the case here, since the, uh, squirrel, didn’t stay with you. Instead, you were able to form a link to another being. See what they see, feel what they feel, but without shifting. As far as I know, this is very rare. I wonder if you’re capable of linking to humans as well as animals…” Callan trails off, lost in his own thoughts.
“So, Alec is the only one left.” Lenny says excitedly.
“And as I said, there is a reason for that,” Maddox says behind his can of beer. I take another sip of my girly drink, realizing that I’m so far behind these guys regarding intoxication.
“It’s interesting to me that I could hear you, too.” My eyes shift to Maddox. “Yet, no one else could. Not even Callan…” I trail off, busying myself with my drink. Realizing that I probably shouldn’t have brought that up and maybe I am a little more drunk than I thought. I look out of the corner of my eye and no one reacts. Thankfully. I can’t be the one to out Callan and Maddox… that’s on them. Well, more on Callan. I have no idea how he’s going to feel about anyone knowing about that. I doubt Maddox will care. And I’m honestly surprised Maddox hasn’t said anything about it yet. How is Lenny going to feel about that?
“Probably from our bond growing, and you being around us in general. Maybe Evenia was right, and your powers were stifled from being around humans your entire life.” Maddox states. He then gets close to my ear and whispers, “your powers are showing,” and I have no idea why that sends goosebumps over my entire body, or what the hell it even means.
“No. It’s more than that. She knows more.” Callan says, his voice sounding robotic. He’s still lost in his head somewhere.
“My powers don’t work on her, so I couldn’t make her tell me the truth, but I knew she was lying about something. Or the very least, omitting something. She puts on a good show though.” Maddox finishes off this beer and grabs another.
“Same thing,” Alec says. My eyes dart to his immediately, and I know there are more to his words than just this conversation. A statement for me to know that he won’t tolerate any type of betrayal.
Well, my handsome Hikikomori, neither will I.
There’s too many questions and not enough answers, and frankly, it’s annoying. “I’m over this topic. We could talk about this forever and still not have answers. We need to act. I’ll drink the potion, do the spell thingy and we can go from there.”
“Who’s hungry? You guys want nachos? I’m making nachos.” Lenny disappears into the kitchen, and Callan gets up, too. “I’m going to help him. I don’t trust him in my kitchen.” I stare at his butt as he walks by, hiding my smile behind the glass that is now almost empty. I drink the last bit and hand my glass to Maddox. He shoots up one eyebrow. “Please?” I beg. He doesn’t smile, but his eyes soften and when it comes to Maddox, that’s just as good.
CHAPTER 33
Friday
After nachos and quite a few more drinks, we’re all feeling good. Especially Lenny. After eating he made another one of his mystery concoctions. This one came out green. I’m not sure how, but it did. I tasted it, and it wasn’t all that bad.
We’re in what has become our normal spots in Callan’s living room. Me on the couch, squished between Maddox and Alec. Lenny on the floor between my legs, and Callan in his chair, that I wish was a bit closer, but I’ll deal. “I know your basic powers, but what are the extra things that you can do? I recently learned that Maddox can go invisible, which totally isn’t creepy at all.” I narrow my eyes at him while he smirks. He’s lucky he’s cute.
They all start to speak at once, and I wave my hands in the air. “Guys! One at a time, please. Youngest to oldest.” I wink at my long-haired pretty boy, to which he gets all too excited.
“Yay! That’s me!” He jumps up and clears his throat before continuing. “I have all of the basic Warlock stuff. Bit of everything I guess, when it comes to magic. I can summon things, spells, lay wards and I’m okay at potions. Other than that, it’s nothing big.” He takes a bow before sitting back down, only this time, he turns to face us, sitting cross-legged.
I open the notes app on my phone and take down some notes. Wanting to keep track of anything new. I’m not sure why, but it makes me feel important, so I do it.
“Who’s next?” I ask, realizing that I don’t actually know. I also don’t know their birthdays either, and that’s kind of important. “Wait! Before you continue, I need you to state your birthday first.”
I get a questioning look from both Alec and Maddox. “I like birthdays, they’re important.” I whine and open up the calendar app. “Let’s backtrack. Lenny, birthday?”
He smiles, “January 21st.” I enter in his birthday and set it to repeat yearly. I look between the three guys that are left, “continue.”
“That’d be me. September 3rd,” Callan says. Hmm, it’s coming up. He looks to Alec and asks, “What’s your name?”
“Butkis.” He replies.
“Butkis?” I say, unbelieving and shocked.
“Yes?” Alec asks confused. My hands fly to my mouth as I stifle a laugh, but it doesn’t work very well. I explode into laughter. I’m curled over, snort laughing at the look on Alec’s face.
“What’s so funny?” He asks, thoroughly confused. I look back to Callan who shrugs with a simple smile. Maddox shakes his head, like he is seriously disappointed in the company he chooses to keep, but I see him flash a small smile before taking a sip of his beer.
“I can make anyone believe anything. I know just about everything and if I don’t then I can easily figure it out. Plus, the newer power of… clairvoyance. If that is in fact an addition and not a one-time thing.” I bite my lip and type out clairvoyance, 110% sure that I didn’t spell it correctly.
I look between Maddox and Alec waiting for one of them to speak.
“I have the basic vampire abilities.” I knew it! “I can make–”
“Uh, birthday please! Follow the rules,” I point my finger at him.
He scoffs before answering in an extra grumpy tone, “August 11th. Happy?”
“Quite. Go on.” I say with a smile.
“I can make people–”
“Wait! That’s like, next week! Why didn’t you tell me your birthday was coming up?”
“Maybe because I’m not 12 and I don’t care.”
“Ha! We’ll see about that. Birthdays are important.” He gives a look and I pretend to lock my lips and throw away the key. His silvery eyes stare me down as he continues speaking.
“I can make people tell the truth and I know if they are lying. I can go invisible, I can turn people into vampires, there is the immortality aspect. Though, I don’t know if I’m fully immortal, but I heal very quickly. My blood has healing powers, as you know.” He places his hand on my thigh. “I was always a bit disappointed that I didn’t get the allure, though.”
“Honey, have you seen yourself?” I ask and he smiles a big toothy smile. I probably shouldn’t have said that, but even the most arrogant assholes – and if someone had to take the trophy, it would be Maddox– deserve the truth sometimes. And then a thought hits… allure? Maybe that’s why Callan was suddenly into the threesome thing with Maddox and me. But then that means that Maddox gained two new abilities. Is that normal? I file that away for another time, not wanting to bring it up in front of the other guys.
I continue to jot things down on my phone. “Don’t forget the new mind trickery.”
“Ah yes, thanks Lenny.” I wink at him and he winks back.
Alec doesn’t waste any time speaking. “June 29th. I can control the air, make it do a lot of things really. You saw some of it back in the hotel, which in a way could be flying, but not really. I can also take the air away from someone, essentially depriving them of oxygen. I can control other elements with my use of air. That’s all I know of at this point.”
“What do you think my powers will be?” Something I’ve been wanting to ask. Thinking of having powers is beyond exciting, but I don’t want to get my hopes up about it, so I’ve been trying to avoid the thoughts. Everyone is sure that I have them, including the Prophet, so I should allow myself to be excited.
“You’re definitely not a werewolf, I swear I’d be able to smell that no matter how deep it was hidden. You should also add into your notes that I have a fantastic sense of smell.” Maddox says as he crosses his arms across his chest, the muscles in his forearms popping. “Before what you gain from us, it could be anything. One of the cool things about being in a Circle is that you’d most likely gain one of our abilities, too. Same for us, we could get a bit of each other’s powers. Since it’s such a close bond, it’s normal for that to happen.”
“Which could be why all of our new abilities have something to do with the mind. Notice that it hasn’t been anything physical? That could be a hint,” Callan adds, while looking up something on his phone and making his own notes. My smart, smart man.
“Okay, maybe I’m pressing my luck here, but since everyone is in such a talkative mood,” (including myself because I haven’t STFU), “I want full names.” I narrow my eyes at all of them. “I’ll go first. Friday Ellen McKay.” I tap my finger on my bottom lip and look between the guys.
“Alec Levi Mason.”
“Callan Arthur Marcus Grant.”
“Maddox Franklin Deveraux.”
All eyes move to Lenny, he’s avoiding our gaze and tapping his finger on the floor.
“Come on, Lenny. Just say it, no one cares.” Maddox says. I’m confused.
He lets out a grown before speaking. “Fine. It’s Leonard Scott Wibbles.”
“See, not so hard now was it?” Maddox crushes the can between his hands and throws it into the kitchen, earning himself a look from Callan.
“What’s wrong with that?” I ask. I get it, it’s odd, but it’s just a name.
“I’ve always been made fun of for it. It’s silly. Everyone else has strong, manly names, and mine sounds like the noise a baby makes when it’s learning to speak.” Okay, I can’t help it. I burst out laughing at that comment, and I instantly regret it. “See! I told you.” He pouts.
“No, Lenny! It’s not that. I mean, it is, but it’s not bad. The way you put it made it funny, but really, it’s just a name. Maybe you and Maddox should get married and then you can take his name if you don’t like it that much.” I say, half joking, but Lenny gives Maddox a look. Have they talked about this before?
We sit in silence for a while after that, watching something on TV that I haven’t been able to focus on. I’m growing impatient. I tell the guys I’m going to bed. They make Lenny come with me while I drink the potion. It was between him and Callan, since they’d both be helpful if something were to happen, but I feel like I’ve
been neglecting Lenny, so I grabbed his arm and pulled him upstairs with me.
I change into pajamas and so does he. We stand at the foot of the bed, and Lenny offers the mason jar to me. “You remember what she told you to say?” He asks, placing a soft kiss on my forehead.
“I wrote it down.” He smiles at me and waits. I twist the top off and give it a sniff. It doesn’t smell bad, but the dark brown liquid does not look appetizing. I also see some chunks floating around in there.
Vomit.
“Best bet is to chug it and get it over with,” Lenny shrugs, making a face that tells me that he’s happy he won’t be drinking it. I take a few quick breaths and speak the words that are written down on the back of a receipt that Lenny had in his pocket. Luckily, Callan had a pen, which apparently, he always carries around with him.
Once hidden for none to know.
Plant the seed and watch it grow.
Wake tomorrow and I shall see,
what it was I was always meant to be.
I bring the glass jar to my lips and tip it, gulping in as much as I can. I was right, chunks. Definitely chunks. GAG! Tears well in my eyes at my fight to not vomit. My gag reflex is in full force, but I gulp it all down. Every last drop. I hand the empty jar to Lenny, who’s eyebrows are raised, clearly impressed with my chugging skills. I lick my lips and take a breath before letting out a very unsexy burp (accidentally, I promise). Then, I repeat the words again.
I expect something to happen. But nothing does.
“That was anticlimactic.” I put my hands on my hips and bite the side of my cheek. “Disappointing, really.”