Deception (12 page)

“But what if the hospital calls about my mum?” Chelsea asked.

Aiden sighed. He obviously hadn’t thought about that. And he couldn’t really expect Chelsea to not need her phone, just in case there was a problem with her mum and the hospital needed to get in touch with her ASAP. “I guess we’ll just have to take our chances with Adam tracking our cell numbers.” He handed our phones back to us.

I turned my phone off. “Well, there’s no need for me to have mine on.”

Aiden pulled out his phone and started typing. “I just sent Dave a text letting him know we’re disappearing for a bit,” he said as he turned off his phone, too.

“Where are we going, then?” Chelsea asked.

I shrugged. “Not a clue,” I said, looking to Aiden for ideas.

“Does your whole teleport thing work like how I’ve seen in the movies, where all you need to do is look at a picture of something, then close your eyes, think about it. Then bam, you open your eyes, and you’re there?” she asked, getting all excited by another transportation experience.

I shook my head. “No. When I think of a place, I need to have been there before to be able to transport there. The other way I can transport is when I think of a person and bring myself to them. So either way won’t really help us with this scenario.”

“Well, you’re lucky I’m pretty well travelled, then, aren’t you?” Aiden said smugly.

He had probably been to just about every city in the world. His parents had never hidden from him what they were, so he got to enjoy all the perks of being a next gen without all the crap I’d dealt with when I found out. “Lucky us,” I said sweetly.

Aiden bent down and picked up his bag from beside the couch where I was sitting. “What type of accommodation were you wanting?”

“Something nice,” I said.

“And warm,” Chelsea added.

“And room service. I’m starving.” I rubbed my empty belly.

A smile spread across his face. “I think you’ll like this place.”

“Does it have a good view?” Chelsea asked.

Aiden nodded. “Yep.” He threw the bag over his shoulder. “I was thinking it’s probably a good idea if I go there on my own while I check in, and then I’ll let you know when you two can come on over.”

“Okay. Sounds like a plan,” I said.

“Hang on, hang on,” Chelsea said. “You
are
planning on getting two rooms, aren’t you?”

I pulled my eyebrows together. “No. That would kind of defeat the whole purpose of us sticking together to make sure he doesn’t do anything to us.”

Chelsea raised an eyebrow. “You know I love you both and all, but there is no way I’m staying in the same room as the two of you.”

I put my hands on my hips. “And why not?”

“Ahh, let’s just say I don’t want to wake up and find the two of you getting it on.”

“Eww, gross.”

“Thanks,” Aiden said mockingly.

I swatted his arm. “Not ‘eww gross’ to you, but ‘eww gross’ that she would think we would ‘get it on’ while she’s sleeping in the same room as us.” I turned to Chelsea. “How could you think we would do such a thing?” I said, playing up the idea that I had no idea what she was thinking when I knew exactly what was going through her mind.

She rolled her eyes. “God, I didn’t mean you would do it on purpose or anything. But I do think there could be the slightest possibility things could get a little heated while you’re sleeping and forget I’m in the same room as you, and I
don’t
want to have to deal with that.”

“Fine. I’ll get you your own room,” Aiden conceded. “But that is in no way admitting such a thing could happen.”

“Good. Then that settles it. We’ll wait here while you go get us our
rooms
,” Chelsea said.

Aiden adjusted the bag on his shoulder. “Okay, I’ll see you soon.”

***

An hour later, we were all sitting at the dining table in our amazingly gorgeous two-bedroom suite in the Swiss Alps, finishing up the last of the pizzas we’d ordered through room service.

“Aww, that was so good,” Chelsea said as she relaxed back into her chair.

Aiden glanced down at the last slice of pizza, then back up at us. “Does anyone want the last piece?”

“Go you halves?” I said.

Chelsea let out another groan. She pushed her chair back as she stood up. “I’m so stuffed, I don’t even think I can watch the two of you eat any more.”

“Suit yourself,” I said, picking up a knife and cutting the pizza down the centre.

She pushed her chair back under the table and stood gripping the back of the chair. “This whole time-zone jetlag thing I’ve got going on isn’t doing much for my image. So, can you try to keep it down tonight,” she said with a smug look on her face.

I just about choked on the pizza when I heard what she was thinking about when she told us to keep down the noise.

Chelsea’s hair flicked out as she turned around and strutted off to her bedroom.

Once I’d managed to carefully swallow my mouthful, I turned to Aiden. “How the hell do you manage to keep a straight face like that?”

“Practice,” he said between chews. “Besides, once you hear it enough, it kind of loses the shock factor.”

“That is one girl’s thoughts I wish I couldn’t hear,” I said, then took another bite.

Once we were finished, Aiden put the dishes in the hall, then joined me on the sofa that faced out towards the snow-capped mountains. Being there made everything we were running away from seem as though it had never existed. It was like a completely different world where I could pretend everyone I cared about was safe.

“What are you thinking about?” Aiden asked as he twirled a strand of my hair through his fingers.

Without taking my eyes off the view, I said, “I was just thinking how being here I can almost pretend everything back home never happened. And how much I wish it were true.”

“I know, and I wish I could tell you it was over or, better yet, that it never happened at all.”

“But it did happen,” I said, turning to face him. “And it’s going to keep happening until we find a way to stop him, and none of us have any idea how to do that. God, we don’t even know where the hell he is.”

He didn’t say anything, because there was nothing to say to that. We both knew it was true, and we both knew we were at his mercy. How we were going to ever turn the tables, neither of us knew. And
that
was a problem.

I looked down at my watch. “Hey?” I leaned over and stopped an inch away from his mouth.

He brushed his lips against mine. “Mmm?”

“Happy Birthday,” I whispered.

A smile spread across his face. He cupped my face in his hands and pulled me into a kiss.

Chapter 11

After a few hours of sleep, we popped over to the UK to finalise things for Aiden’s party that evening. I wanted everything to be perfect and not look like we’d slapped it together at the last minute. Thanks to Anna’s amazing party planning abilities, it looked like as if it had been planned for months, just as an eighteenth birthday should have been.

I still hadn’t talked to my mother, even though she did send me a text message. I just couldn’t bring myself to face her after what I’d done to her and what she had done to me.

“What are you thinking about, chickie?” Chelsea said, sitting down on the couch beside me. We were in the rumpus room, watching Anna flitter around giving orders to the people delivering the drinks and slushie machines. She’d arranged for a bartender who was due to arrive in an hour to get a head start on where everything was.

“Nothing,” I said turning to her.

She raised one eyebrow. “Nothing, my arse.”

“Okay, okay. I was thinking about what happened with my mum. But tonight’s not about me and my screwed up family.” When she was about to talk me into trying to work things out with my mum, I added, “It’s about Aiden and the fact he’s turned eighteen today.”

Chelsea sighed. “You’re lucky. I’m gonna let you off just this once. But later, you and me are going to talk about what’s going on between you and your mum, okay?”

“Yeah, whatever,” I said, hoping I would learn to control people’s actions by then, and I would never have to have that conversation. I could only wish.

“Jade? Chelsea?” Anna called from the other side of the room. “You better go upstairs and get ready for tonight. Everyone will start arriving in about an hour.”

Chelsea and I got up off the sofa and walked over to her. “Are you sure you don’t need any help?” I asked.

“Does it look like I need any help?” she asked with a smug look on her face.

I looked around the room. “I guess not.”

“See, I told you I’ve done these kind of things before. So don’t worry about anything else. You two just go…” She was distracted by a man who’d entered the room, carrying a silver case. “That’s the DJ,” Anna answered Chelsea’s unasked question. “I’ll pop upstairs once I’m finished down here to see how you’re both going, okay?”

“Yep,” we both said in unison.

Anna smiled, then rushed over to the DJ. By the look of him, I was pretty sure the music playlist would be safe, and the UK’s hottest club would be missing its best DJ.

I grabbed Chelsea’s hand. “Come on,” I said, dragging her outside.

Once we were in the hall and the coast was clear, I transported us into my room. In the closet, we found two dress bags hanging on the hook next to the tub chair.

“I guess Anna’s already picked us out something to wear tonight,” I said, noting the nametags attached to each hanger.

Chelsea rushed forward, grabbed her hanger off the hook, and pulled down the zip as quick as she could. “Oh, my God,” she squealed as she pulled the bag completely off the hanger to reveal a silver knee-length dress that would be sure to show enough cleavage to satisfy Chels, but not skanky enough for her to be mistaken for Georgia. Anna sure had taste and knew her style.

Eagerly, I unzipped the bag with my name on it. “Wow,” I mouthed as I pulled out a champagne-coloured, silk backless dress.

“That’s gorgeous,” Chelsea said, stopping briefly to admire my dress before returning to her own.

A small knock on the bedroom door was followed by, “Hello?”

I ducked out of the closet and found a woman in her thirties standing by the door. “Hi, I’m Alexa,” she said with a nervous smile. “Anna asked me to come around to do your makeup for the party.”

“Oh,” I said in surprise. “I guess she forgot to tell us you were coming.”

“If you—”

“No, it’s fine,” I said, stopping her before she could say any more. “Come on in.”

“Who was it?” Chelsea asked coming into the room.

“This is Alexa, she’s a makeup artist.”

“Seriously?” Chelsea asked, her face lighting up with excitement.

“Uh huh,” I said, waving Alexa over to us.

“Ooh, me first,” Chelsea said. “Where do you want to do this?” Wow, that girl really was excited.

“The bathroom’s probably the best place,” I said, pointing towards it.

Alexa nodded, then followed Chelsea as she skipped into the bathroom. Ten minutes later, she emerged, looking like a goddess. “How friggin’ hot am I?” she stated more than asked as she twirled around in her new dress.

I put my hands on my hips as I pretended to study her new look. “Alexa really is a miracle worker, isn’t she?”

Chelsea’s eyes widened, then a smirk crept up on her lips. “Now, now, don’t be jealous. It’s not a good look on you.”

“I guess it’s my turn in there, then,” I said, cocking my head towards the bathroom. “Let’s just see what Alexa can do with perfection.”

Chelsea slapped me on the arse as I walked by her.

Alexa was waiting for me on the seat in the bathroom. I sat down and let her get started. She wasn’t much of a talker, which was good because Aiden decided to butt in.
“Are you guys finished getting ready yet? Everyone has already started to arrive.”

“Chelsea’s ready, and I’m still getting my makeup done. We should be finished up and down there in about ten minutes.”

“Okay. See you soon.”

“See you.”

Once Alexa had finished, I gave her my thanks for making me look better than I’d ever looked in my life. She was quick to excuse herself, and I went into the closet to get changed into my dress.

“Wow,” Chelsea said, coming into the closet.

I looked at myself in the floor-to-ceiling mirror and couldn’t agree more. The dress looked as if it had been tailor-made for me.

“Turn around,” Chelsea said, twirling her finger in a circle.

I turned my back to the mirror and looked over my shoulder. “Holy crap.”

“That’s friggin’ hot!” she said as she noted just how backless the dress really was.

A long diamond chain hung down the middle of my back, stopping an inch above my butt. “Georgia’s going to flip.”

“Who’s Georgia?”

I turned around to face Chelsea. “Haven’t I told you about her?”

“Ahh, no.”

“She’s Lucas’s twin sister.”

“Oh,” she said, wondering why Lucas hadn’t mentioned it to her.

“And… Aiden’s ex.”

Her eyes widened in surprise. “Oh, my God. Are you serious?”

“Unfortunately, yes.” I gave Chelsea the rundown.

“I can’t wait to see her face,” Chelsea said, rubbing her hands together like an evil villain.

“Well, just look for the girl who looks like she’s been standing on a street corner.”

“What?”

“It’s just a little inside joke,” I explained. “When I first met her, before I found out she was a next gen, she was sitting next to Aiden at the table and practically had her boobs on display for him, probably hoping that was all it took to get him back. Anyway, I didn’t realise they could hear my thoughts, and everyone heard what I was thinking…” I realised too late what I’d let slip. “Ohh, crap.”

“You can hear my thoughts?” she asked, not believing it was true. Or more so, she was hoping it wasn’t true. She started to hyperventilate as her mind reeled with every thought she’d had about how hot Lucas was.

I really needed to get her to someone who could fix this ASAP. “Let’s go.” I grabbed her by the hand and transported us to the room opposite where the party was.