“She did it. Shewas able to,” Ollie waves his hands, “turn invisible.She was only gone a few seconds.” Ollie keeps his voice low, but his excitement is clear.
I lift my hand and pat it against Ares’s mouth lazily. I feelcompletelydrained, exhausted. “Shush,” I tell them again. “My head hurts.” I let my head fall against Ares’s chest, leaning into him. As soon as the connection forms, I tug on the darkness that callsto mewhenever we’re close, when he’s sharing his ability with me. Ares makes a grunting sound, but lifts his hand so his palm is cradling my head against him.
I tilt my face up to look at him and he kisses my forehead. “You’re okay,” he reassures me, maybe himself too.
Once I feel like I can take a deep breath without sprawling on the floor, I lick my lips and tell him, “Thank you.”
“Do you know what happened?” Ares dismisses my thanks, going right for answers.
“Do you mind if we get off the floor?” I meant for it to come out as a joke, but he snaps into action. Cradling me into his arms, he lifts me off the floor and takes us over to the other half of the room. Ares sits on the end of a weight bench with me still snuggled against his chest. I curl into him, no longer needing the energy he was supplying, but craving his touch anyway.
“What happened?” he asks again, his patience gone.
I drag in a deep breath. “It was like Ollie said, I was finally able to go ghost.” I pause, taking another breath. “I was thinking about how bright Ollie was, so I wanted to get closer to him. But I didn’t walk to him, I was just there, right next to him. But then I felt sick, like I would throw up and pass out at the same time.”
“Jesus Christ, you fucking shadow walked?”
I snap my hands over my ears again. “Do you have to yell?” I glare at him,catching a glimpse of Ollie standing in the doorway with Milo by his side. Ollie’s eyes are wide as he stares at me, his hand covering his mouth. He’s worried we overdid it, especially after taking in so much of his energy.
“Sorry,” Ares grumbles, his voice much lower.
I give Ollie a conspiratorially wink. Focusing back on Ares, I ask, “Is that what I did, shadow walked?”
“I’m guessing that’s what happened, that’s what it sounds like. What happened after?” Ares brushes his cheek against the top of my head.
Tangling my fingers in the fabric of his dark blue dress shirt, I try to explain how I felt. “I think I would have been okay if I hadn’t moved over to Ollie. But as soon as I got close to him, I felt horrible. Like I could barely stand up. I feel better now though.”
“It takes a lot of energy to shadow walk,” Ares informs me.
I nod. “Sorry if I took all yours when you got here. I didn’t mean to, itjusthappened.”
“Don’t be sorry, and I’m fine. I could feel you pulling from me, but it comes right back. Like a loop.”
“Are you sure?” I can’t help but feel guilty, it was like I didn’t even have a choice, my body just took what it needed from him.
“Promise, I’m good,” Ares murmurs, drawing me closer to his chest. I feel the heat of him seeping into my bones, leaving me feeling a little breathless and a lot turned on. If the hardness I feel under me is anyindication, he’s feeling the same.
Dante shoulders his way into the room, his eyes scanning the gym. “We need to get our own place, I can’t keep running interference with Mom and the dads. Everything okay?”
“I think Laura just overexerted herself, she’s okay. And I’m working on it.” Ares pats my hip, telling me to stand. Releasing him, I get to my feet and Ares rises right behind me, keeping me in front of him as he turns us to face the others.
“Now we know she can use my ability even if she isn’t drawing it directly from me, but it takes a lot of energy.We’ll have to see if I’m with her, if it’ll have the same effects. Same for you.” Ares nods his head in Ollie’s direction. “But we will need to hold off on the training sessions for a day or two anyway.”
Ollie swallows. “Yeah, I think that would be good,” he agrees easily.
I look over my shoulder, but Ares won’t make eye contact with me. “Why, what’s up?” Milo leans his shoulder against the wall, his feet crossed at the ankle.
“I set up a meeting with the Whitmores,” Ares announces, and it drops like a lead weight. I pull away from him and study his face, but he’s still not looking at me. “I’ve been working on a cover story since we found out about Leon.”
“Why didn’t you say anything?” There’s an accusation in my tone.
Ares finally meets my eyes and his are filled with determination. I know there won’t be any stopping him. “I think it’s the best way to find out about Leon.” I look down at the ground, mad that he hasn’t been keeping me in the loop.
“What’s yourin?” Milo moves over to a set of dumbbells lined up on a metal pyramid, and he picks up the fifty-pound weight and turns it over in his hand like he’s inspecting it, like it doesn’t weigh much at all.
“Security, I reached out to them and a fewother Infinity groups living in their community to offer my services,” Ares explains. “I put out some feelers aboutrelocating out that way and wanted to get a head start on some business relationships.”
“Why didn’t you say anything?” I cross my arms over my stomach. I haven’t felt like an outsider with them in a while, but Ares keeping this from me reminds me that I’m still a secret. That other than their families, no one knows about me.
