by Tara Brown
"What do you mean?" He felt himself getting impatient.
"My super powers?"
"What super powers? You can't die and like I said you're strong."
"Hmm, kind of lame. Do I change into like a wolf or a bat?"
He laughed taking her hand, "Lets go."
Chapter Thirty: Pretty sure I need to be strip searched
Hanna
"Ari how long did it take you to get control of the other people inside of you?"
Ari groaned, "Forever. It was brutal. Why?"
Hanna grimaced, "I have to try to control my beast."
"Oh yeah. Good luck with that."
Hanna laughed, "Thanks."
Lucas sniffed the air in the sitting room, "Anyone smell that?"
Ben raised his eyebrows, "I do. Giselle is back."
Ari rolled her eyes swatting Lucas, "I hope she bites you."
Ben grinned, "I'd be happy to bite her back."
Hanna watched as Giselle walked in looking healthy and stunning. She smiled, "Hey."
Giselle beamed, "Hey guys."
Ben moved over on the huge sofa, "Come have a seat Giselle."
She looked behind herself and grinned, "Uh okay. Come on." She grabbed something from the hall and dragged Aleks into the room. Ben looked bummed making Ari laugh.
Hanna looked at Aleks noticing her attraction to him. She wanted to ignore him, especially considering he had made her feel things for Marcus after her birthday.
"You look remarkably better."
Giselle nodded, "I feel so much better. I'm still getting used to how bright everything is and how much better my vision is. I can hear shit like its no bodies business. Hanna your heartbeat is going nutty."
Hanna blushed, trying not to look at Aleks.
Ben laughed, "How fast can you run?"
She smirked, "Faster than you I bet."
"Want to race?"
"When the sun goes down." Aleks pointed out.
Hanna frowned, "Well I better get home before Roland sets the hounds out looking for me. He's been weird lately."
Aleks stood, "I will walk you out."
She blushed, "Oh that’s okay."
"No I want to."
She walked from the room to the front door.
He took her hand, "I'm sorry."
She nodded, "It's cool. I get it." She did but it hurt nonetheless. He had convinced and fooled her with his mind tricks. That would take some time to forgive.
"I deserve your anger. I just want to thank you for your part in saving her."
She raised her eyebrows, "I was going to do it, I just didn’t want to do it. You didn’t have to force me into feeling something for him. You used your mind tricks on me?"
He nodded, "Yes."
"Well you're welcome. I'm glad she's alive and healthy. Just be honest with me from now on though and don’t use that Jedi mind trick crap on me. It doesn’t make me feel good to be traded like some kind of commodity to save girls you think are hot."
He reached for her hand and pulled her into him, "I saved her because I had to. It wasn’t because of her looks."
She pulled her hand back, "Whatever, fine. We're cool."
She walked out of the house, fighting turning back and running and jumping into his arms. She hated the way every guy was making her feel that way.
"I will talk to you later okay?"
She waved backwards not looking back. She couldn’t, she wasn’t strong enough for whatever it was that linked them.
****
The drive home was frustrating. One part of her wanted to phone Aleks and tell him to meet her at her place. Another part of her wanted to just drive to Marcus and forgive him. The largest part of her wanted to hunt down Sam and tear his clothes off. She wondered why he hadn’t been at the house when she had been there?
She didn’t want the drama of any of the scenarios she played in her mind. She could tell how Giselle felt about Aleks. She had no intention of making any moves on him. The further she got from him, the worse she felt about being attracted to him.
She laughed as she pulled into her driveway to see Officer Paulson standing at the front door speaking with Roland.
She sighed wanting to back up and drive to the airport.
She climbed out of the car smiling.
"Hey, just the girl I wanted to see."
She smiled at him. He was in his uniform, she tried not to notice how his body filled it out. She tried not to notice he had handcuffs and how hot those had suddenly become.
He walked toward her, "So how you feeling?"
She frowned, "Good."
"You're concussion and everything that happened with your friend."
She nodded, instantly feeling awful about not seeing Rebecca's parents yet.
"I feel great but still upset about my friend and all that."
Roland looked like he was about to start laughing, "Come in out of the cold you two. I will fix some cider."
She looked at the wreath on the door. Inside the house Christmas decorations were everywhere.
"Wow Roland this looks amazing."
"Thank you. It is my favorite season."
Andy laughed, "Yeah mine too, less crimes committed. Well more suicide attempts but less other crap."
She laughed at him, "You sound very concerned about the suicides."
He shrugged, "You kind of get to the point where you almost want to give them a hand with it. How many times can the same miserable person attempt it and how in many different ways before they eventually succeed?"
She nodded, "Wow cold. I guess you have to be there to get it. How's the case?"
He scowled, "You're aunt is a piece of work. It's why I'm here. I didn’t want to bring it up at your birthday."
She pointed to the sitting room, "Lets sit."
He pulled his coat off and hung it up on the coat hanger.
She pulled off her boots and slipped on her fuzzy slippers.
The couch was warm and inviting with the fireplace ablaze and stockings hung in preparation.
"She isn’t your real aunt. It turns out her and your mother were friends for years before you were born. What do you recall about her?"
Hanna shrugged, "I knew she wasn’t a blood relative. They always said she was like my mother's sister. She was really my godmother."
He nodded, "Well I'm glad you know she isn’t a relation to you. Anyway we found out she was spending your trust fund wildly. She owns three other houses, all bought in the last six years. And even worse she owns five vehicles."
Hanna's scowl matched his, "I don’t understand?"
"She wasn't your real family and she was taking care of you after your mother died. Basically it seems she only took you in to get access to the money."
"I knew that but not about the houses and cars. So she has all these places everywhere? When did she go to them? We never took trips."
"I think they were part of the after you died plan."
"Oh wow. So she's in jail and still owns a ton of things she bought with my money?"
He nodded, "Well had. I've had court orders to have them all transferred into your ownership as your money bought them. She tried to argue she was taking the money as payment to look after you but the judge was adopted as a child. It didn’t go well. Anyway it’s a fraud case now."
Hanna sighed, "How did I miss all of this?"
"Hanna she is a sneaky woman and apparently an amazing actress."
She shook her head, "I'm so stunned. I honestly always believed she loved me."
He shrugged, "I figured you'd be a mess about it. I actually almost never came to the party. I was scared I would remind you of everything that happened."
She looked into his bright blue eyes and nodded, "You do but that isn’t your fault."
He put his hand on hers, "Hanna I want you to know I am here for you."
She smiled, "Thank you."
He leaned in brushing his lips against hers. She responded to his kiss. It was g
entle but not expectant.
He stood up, "I'd like to see you again."
"Unofficially?" She laughed.
He nodded, "Very unofficially."
"That's too bad because seeing you in the uniform makes me want to confess to some crimes."
He laughed, "So bring the cuffs first date then?"
She nodded, trying desperately to get her mind back on track, "Give me a call. I'm not sure what Roland has planned over Christmas."
He laughed again, "Yeah it looks like Martha Stewart came by to help him out."
She nodded, "Pretty much."
She walked him to the door, "What do I do now, regarding my aunt? Or rather Cecile."
"Well the judge has the weekend to go over the paperwork and court orders. She will be deliberating on Monday if you want I could call you when she calls me and tells me her decision? Most likely she will liquidate the assets and you'll be owed the money." He grabbed his coat and smiled at her.
She nodded trying to be casual, "Let me know."
He opened the door, "Okay well I have to get back to work. Tell Roland I said thanks anyway for the cider."
She nodded smiling at his uniform, catching herself staring at his chest.
He smirked, "Yeah yeah yeah. Stop looking at me like I'm a piece of meat."
"You look like a stripper."
He chuckled, "Nice. Okay I will call Monday if you don’t call me first."
He walked out and she tried hard not to watch his butt in his police pants.
"Your cider."
She turned to see Roland holding a tray. She smiled and took a mug of steaming cider. She waved as Andy drove out of the driveway.
"Roland does God hate me?"
Roland chuckled, "Why would you ask that?"
"Because I have this sweet cop trying to date me, but I can't make myself forget about the freak show guys like me." She sighed, "Marcus is exactly what he said, everything and nothing. And something, maybe an unnatural force, makes me want to be with Aleks. Then there is Sam. Oh my god Sam is driving me nuts. I actually forget where I am when he's around. He has the sweetest way about him."
"You need to look at all those relationships and those people and decide which one lifts you up, improves upon what is already inside of you. I think that you are too young and you should wait to make decisions."
"I guess, yeah."
He smiled taking the silver tray with one mug of cider back to the kitchen, "You don’t want to walk onto the car lot and buy the first car you see, you have to test drive them. You're young, have fun with it and relax."
She struggled to keep her cider in her mouth. She coughed as it went down the wrong passage, "Oh my god."
He chuckled softly leaving the room.
Her face flushed thinking about test-driving. Andy may not make her heart soar the way Marcus did but she could definitely imagine taking him out for a spin. But then every naughty thought led her back to Sam.
She followed Roland back to the kitchen, "Who was my mother?" She asked quietly watching him tidy up.
He frowned, "Why?"
"My father met my mother seventy-five years ago Roland. I'm assuming she was something more than a regular mom."
He nodded, "Yes well I suppose that’s the truth of it. I was told we would never have to have this conversation and yet here we are. Your mother was a Siren."
"The women who call ships to their death?"
"No. That’s not entirely true. They don’t need to sing, they just need a strong breeze. They used to hang out along the coastline when ships were the mode of transportation."
"I'm confused."
"She was a Siren, a temptress, a seductress."
"My mom?"
"Yes."
"Did she kill men?"
He laughed, "Only with her looks. No she was a sweet woman. Her and Cecile became friends before you were born. Cecile hated your father but loved your mother."
He turned smiling, but his dark eyes seemed hollow, "Humans can't help themselves. Human women and men love Sirens. Supernatural men lust after Sirens. But most supernatural females despise Sirens. Cecile was a regular human woman, she loved your mother like a sister."
"Why would they leave me with her if she was evil?"
He shook his head, "No one knew she was evil. She was a very devoted friend to your mother. No one believed her capable of anything. Your father tested your blood yearly against your mothers and his. You never showed any signs of either of them. Cecile was the best bet. She was human, you were human."
"Up until Cecile poisoned me, I was a regular human?"
He nodded, "Your father realized a couple years ago that you had none of the Siren in you and none of him. It was assumed you would grow to be a normal kid. He would have brought you to live with us if you had been abnormal in anyway."
"What changed it all?"
Roland shrugged, "I'm afraid all we can ever do is guess it was the poison. All I know is no one from our world was ever allowed to know you until the day the change occurred. He wanted you to have a normal life."
She rolled her eyes, "That panned out well."
"You know what they say about best laid plans."
"So if I'm half a Siren?"
"You're a whole lot of trouble for men."
"My life just keeps getting better."
Chapter Thirty-One: Toast with a side of trouble
Aleksander
She had insisted on sleeping in his bed. He hadn’t been certain how to convince Giselle he wasn’t interested in her in that way. She had been adamant that he had saved her because he was developing feelings for her.
Hanna was all he thought about, he couldn’t describe his feelings for her. It was if there were no feelings, just animal lust.
He walked into the kitchen to see the youngest of the Nephilim children sitting at the table.
"Morning."
Sarah faded becoming nearly as invisible as Annabelle.
"Did Annabelle make you breakfast?"
She nodded letting her color come back.
"Danny had a bad dream last night, he saw them breaking in here and taking us." Her little squeaky voice spoke softly as she bit off a piece of toast.
"Do his dreams come true?"
She nodded, looking up at him with her dark eye, "Yup."
He frowned, "Hmm, maybe I better talk to Lydia about that. Where is Danny?"
"He's hiding in Annabelle's room."
He turned and walked out of the room. Annabelle had the attic all to herself. He walked up the stairs not wanting to just appear in her room. He knocked on the small brown door at the very top of the second flight of stairs.
"Yes."
Aleksander opened the door, "Morning Annabelle, I was wondering if I could speak to Danny quickly?"
"Oh Mister Aleks you knows you can comes and goes in here. He be in the window cupboard." She pointed to the huge dormer closet as she left the room.
He walked softly, "Danny can I ask you something?"
He opened the closet and smiled. Danny had built himself a fort out of blankets in the closet. He sat with an Archie Comic and a flashlight.
"How's it going?"
Danny shrugged.
Aleks sat on the hard wooden floor, "Want to tell me about your dream?"
He nodded, "K."
Aleks waited but the chubby boy never spoke.
"Now?"
Danny put down the comic with a sigh, "I was standing in the kitchen and we were eating. I was getting juice. A woman came into the house, she was a human but she was special somehow. She grabbed Sarah and stabbed a needle in her arm. She did the same thing to me. I dropped my juice. Then another woman was there and she did what Aimee does and winked us to a new house, it was cold and dark. I just remember the glass shattering to the floor and juice spilling everywhere."
"I see. So something like this would come true normally? Your dreams come true?"
He nodded, "If it’s the last dream before I wake."
Aleks put a hand on him, "Well lucky you have them then. We can bump up security at the house."
Danny picked up his comic again and started reading, "I'm not going in the kitchen, just saying."
Aleks laughed standing up, "Okay. I will get Annabelle to bring you breakfast up here."
"Milk no juice."
He smiled and let the warm wind take him to the kitchen.
Sarah had finished her breakfast and was laughing talking with Sam. He was the oldest of the Nephilim children. He was twenty-eight but looked to be about nineteen. His strength was unmatched. Aleks suspected his parentage to be one of the Archangels.
"She tell you about the dream?" Sam asked looking at him sternly.
Aleks nodded, "I spoke with Danny, sounds pretty possible. They’ve been taking blood from Hanna. They could make a weapon with her blood."
Sam smirked, "Hanna Hyde? Yeah we decided when we make the toys to sell from our super hero franchise Hanna Hyde will be her name. It has a nice ring to it."
Aleks frowned, "Don’t push it. You piss her off and she tears the house down, you'll be sorry."
Sam laughed, "I can only imagine what she's like when she's angry." His black eyes sparkled.
"What's for breakfast Annabelle?" Lydia asked walking in pulling her long gray hair into a bun.
"Trouble Miss Lydia, today it be trouble for breakfast." Annabelle pointed to the window.
Chapter Thirty-Two: Sell my soul to sleep with a siren
Hanna
"Is that why Aleks is into me? Why he can't stop coming on to me? Why Andy wants me? And Marcus?"
Roland nodded, "I believe it is. People can't fight their love and attraction for Sirens. You force feelings on them."
She stopped pacing around the kitchen and pointed, "You said people, Aleks isn’t people. Neither is Marcus."
"I told you supernatural beings feel lust, incredible lust. Some even mistake it for love."
"This is disgusting. I was wondering what was going on. I went from regular girl to, well something else. God hates me, I know it. Shit. So even Nephilim can be affected?"
