He didn’t give up. Now that the idea had been planted, he couldn’t. “That would explain why I’ve wanted to hug her, why she’s wanted to hug me. I think you sensed each other on a soul-deep level.”
“What are you saying, Aden?” Mary Ann’s voice reached him from the darkness, trembling and unsure.
Just like that, another realization slammed into Aden. If the souls were indeed confused ghosts, then he had only to help them to free them. He had only to help them do the one thing they regretted not being able to do. Like John, they would then float away, presumably to the hereafter. They wouldn’t get bodies of their own, but at least they would have peace.
Elijah had already predicted it. One of his companions would soon go free. Which meant, one of his companions was about to have their last wish granted. As motherly as she was, would Eve’s last regret have been not seeing her daughter? Not talking with her, not holding her? Would that be what she’d craved above all else?
There was only one way to find out…
“Pull over, Riley. I think it’s time for Mary Ann to meet her mother.”
CHAPTER 22
Instead of doing as Aden had asked, Riley kept driving until he reached a motel. Victoria procured a room (free of charge), and the four of them locked themselves inside. Strangely enough, none of them spoke during the twenty minutes it took. Mary Ann was glad; she was a jumble of nerves.
Of all the things she’d come to accept these last few weeks—werewolves, vampires, witches and fairies, flesh-eating goblins and straight-from-hell demons—this would top them all. Her mother, a woman she herself had never known, had been trapped inside of Aden all this time? So close to her, yet so unattainable? Impossible. But that’s what Aden had been implying. That’s what he wanted her to believe.
Trembling, she stood at the threshold of the room and peered inside. There was a dresser, a nightstand with a TV and two twin beds. Aden crossed over and eased onto the edge of one, facing her but not looking at her. He was as pale as Victoria, who settled next to him.
Riley sat on the other bed and waved Mary Ann over with a crook of his fingers. Her body didn’t want to move; her feet felt rooted in place. I can do this. I can. Just the other day she’d hoped to talk to her mother’s ghost. A different mother, yeah, but then she hadn’t had all the facts.
She just kind of fell forward, forcing her too-heavy legs into action. But when she reached the bed, her knees gave out. Riley caught her and positioned her next to him. She flattened her sweaty palms on her thighs to prevent herself from reaching over and shaking someone. Had to press her lips together to prevent herself from screaming. This was too much, not enough, everything and nothing, hope and defeat all rolled into a beautifully frightening package.
“This can’t be right,” Riley finally said, breaking the silence. “One of the souls trapped inside you simply can’t be Mary Ann’s mother.”
“Her name is Eve,” Aden replied, “and that’s what she says, too.”
Mary Ann exhaled quickly. “Well, then, it’s settled. She’s not my mom. Besides, my mother’s name was Anne, not Eve.” She forced the words past the scream still lodged in her throat. It wasn’t that she didn’t want Aden’s Eve to be her mother. Having her mother nearby would be amazing. It was just that, to hope for the best and then later find out she was wrong…it would be like losing her mom all over again and she wasn’t sure she’d survive.
Aden pulled at his shirt collar. “The souls inside of me have no memory of their other lives. Of course their names are different. Besides, I helped pick them.”
“What makes you think they’re ghosts? I mean, they would have to be for one to be my mother. And I thought ghosts were a possibility for a while, too, but why haven’t you drawn other ghosts inside your head? Let’s think about this.” Did she sound as desperate to them as she did to herself? “My ability to negate others’ powers apparently worked while I was inside the womb, not allowing my mother to…time travel.” Saying that was hard, made it real. “That means your ability would have shown itself before your birth, as well.”
“True. But what if my mother was a neutralizer like you? I wouldn’t have drawn anyone until my actual birth, until I was carried away from her. We won’t know until we talk to her, if we find her. And as for why I haven’t drawn other people—or ghosts, or whatever they are—inside my head, maybe I was only vulnerable at birth. Maybe, even as a baby, I learned to guard myself. Maybe there wasn’t room for anyone else. That’s something we might not ever learn.”
She had no reply. Everything he said made sense and beat at her resolve.
“Right now, you and Eve have the chance to learn the truth. Do you really want to miss out on that?”
Did she? If she continued to hold on to her disbelief, she would remain emotionally guarded. If she opened herself up to the possibilities, she would be risking every ounce of her newfound happiness.
Riley’s warm hand curled around the back of her neck and he began massaging the muscles knotted there. With the touch, his strength seeped into her and changed the direction of her thoughts. She wasn’t some mouse to be scared away from a dream come true so easily. After all, she had faced down a wolf, befriended a vampire and demanded answers from her father. She could do this, too.
And if, afterward, she needed to pick up the pieces of her shattered life once more, she would.
“No,” she said, squaring her shoulders. “I don’t want to miss anything.”
Aden nodded as though he’d expected such a reply. “I’m going to do something I haven’t done in years. Something I hate to do because I become like the souls, trapped inside a body that isn’t my own, control no longer mine.” His eyes were swirling, all the colors blending together. “I’m going to allow Eve to take control of the body. That means the next time I talk to you, it won’t be me. It’ll be Eve. Okay?”
Her nervousness intensified but she nodded.
His lids fell, shading those irises. In and out he breathed, every inhalation audible, every exhalation like the calm before a storm. “Eve,” he said. “You know what to do.”
An eternity passed. Nothing happened, nothing changed. Then he stiffened and a groan parted his lips. Then, his eyelids cracked open. The shimmer of colors was gone. Now his eyes were a hazel-brown. Like hers. She could only gape in wonder, the world around her gone. Aden was the only anchor she had at the moment, the only thing keeping her from floating away.
“Hello, Mary Ann,” he said. No, Eve said. It was Aden’s voice, and yet, there was a gentleness to it that had never been present before.
She shivered, the urge to hug him stronger than ever before. “Hello.”
“Should we leave?” Victoria asked.
“You can’t,” Aden-Eve said. “Without Riley, Mary Ann blocks Aden’s abilities. I wouldn’t be able to hold on to the body.”
They lapsed into an awkward silence.
“This is silly,” Mary Ann said. “There’s no way we’ll figure this out. I don’t know anything about my mother, and you don’t know anything about her, either. You don’t know anything about me.” She was surprised by the bitterness in her tone. Not for Eve, but for the things she had missed.
You do know something about her, she reminded herself. The journal. One passage was already burned into her memory.
My friends think I’m stupid. Having a baby at my age when there are ways to “fix” the situation. As if I could part with this miracle. I can feel her already. I love her already. I would die for her.
Sadly, she probably had.
“Do you remember anything about your life?” Mary Ann asked. “Before Aden, I mean?”
A shake of that dark head. “No. I’ve tried. We’ve all tried. I think there are memories just waiting to be freed. I mean, I can feel something swirling in my consciousness, but I just can’t seem to get to it.” A sigh. “We all have thoughts and feelings, fears and desires we can’t explain any other way.”