Page 62 of Tainted Gifts
"He'll be busy for a while. He'll come find you," Mom murmurs, apparently thinking I was expecting him to join us.
"Oh, actually-"
"Aria is with me now," Kellan says, stepping up out of nowhere and possessively draping his arm around my shoulders.
"When did... I thought... how did... huh?" Mom says, probably confused since I was cuddled up with Jase during the meeting.
"Jase can make my headaches go away. He's the only one who can. They're getting worse," I grumble, suddenly aching more now that Kellan's hybrid heat is warming my sensitive body too much. "Kellan is my counter."
I say it so casually when I should be too excited to contain myself. Her mouth drops in an attempt to become unhinged along with Uncle Brazen's. Uncle Grayson slaps his forehead, and Aunt Angelica buries her head in his chest.
"When did-"
"Not here, Mom," Rex says, chiming in and coming over to feel my head. "We don't need to make a scene and Aria is sweating like crazy."
She nods, not trying to say more, as we start to walk toward the doors. Simone walks by us, not saying anything. Mom calls to her, but she ignores us and heads on, pretending as though she didn't hear when we all know damn well she did.
"What's wrong with her?" Mom asks, scoffing slightly.
I look to Kellan, my jaw tensing, and he drops his arm from around my shoulders while squirming uncomfortably.
"It's a long story," I exasperate.
She frowns, glancing between us, and then she motions toward the stairs as we round the corner.
"Well, I think it's time you catch me up. We'll start with your new counter, then Simone, and then we'll discuss these headaches you shouldn't be having."
Crap. I really need to be going. I need to find the snow.
"While you're at it," she adds, her eyes narrowing, "You can also tell me why you didn't tell me about the scorpions and this thing that is leveling the world."
Fuck!
Chapter
Mom sits back, soaking in everything I've told her in the past two hours. I started at the beginning, and finally, I've caught up with the present. Uncle Brazen grips his head as though it has an ache to match mine.
"Another emergent hybrid. Amazing. I thought I was the only one to survive past puberty until recently. I heard about the experiments. I can't believe you didn't tell me."
I sigh out, trying not to reveal my pain.
"I didn't want you going after them alone. How did you find out?"
She shrugs. "Simple. I hacked Rex's computer. He always did like logging everything. I told him that was dangerous, and I knew the two of you were hiding things."
"Hey," Rex growls. "Stay out of my computer."
She winks at him, and then she looks at Kellan before taking notice of the fact I don't want him touching me.
"If the two of you are counters, then you shouldn't be able to keep your hands off each other so easily," she mutters, scrutiny in her gaze.
"It's not easy," Kellan huffs, pouting a little. "My heat hurts her head worse though. She's burning up all the time, and now she has the craving to-"
The door swings open, making Kellan stop short as Jase and Melania join us. Rex smiles too big for his face while scooping her up and spinning her around, both of them celebrating our win today.
Jase walks over, smiling as he plops down on the other side of me, his arm draping around my shoulders as he relieves me of my pain. I lean into him, soaking up his chill as I fight the urge to bite him.
His right eyebrow goes into an arch as one side of his mouth cocks up in a grin.
