Chapter 4
Jaxson was getting his wish; we were staying an extra day.
Unfortunately, we still had business to attend to before we could enjoy the rest of the night and most of tomorrow.
Once we returned to the resort, Jace had made a call to Pops, while Annika and Sylvie had contacted their parents.
It didn’t take long for them to catch flights out here.
So, there we were, discussing the earlier events.
We were in the villa Casey, Annika, and Sylvie stayed in.
It was spacious enough to hold Pops, Megan, Annika, her parents, Sylvie, her parents, my guys, Ethan, Arianna, Gavin, Mercedes, Sierra, and me.
Everyone else was content to be filled in later, enjoying the amenities of the resort.
Jaxson had been slightly salty about this, but ultimately, he understood my need for any additional information about Horatio and his plans.
“How did we not know he was our connection?” Annika asked, tenderly brushing the hair off Vance’s brow.
Even though Vance was still recuperating, the man looked a lot better than he had just a few hours ago. The natural pallor of his skin had given way to a healthy glow, and he no longer looked gaunt or sickly. To say the afternoon had ended in a major plot twist was an understatement.
The moment Gavin began siphoning Casey and restoring the gifts he had been stealing from Vance for years, he had been marked. The mark itself was a phenomenon, and what he had been marked with was mind-blowing. Now, he bore the mark of his brother’s connections.
“It was our mistake,” Annika’s mom, Callista, dabbed at her eyes with a Kleenex.
“As kids, you three were thick as thieves.” She indicated Sylvie, Vance, and Annika.
“Every time Libby and I wondered if you would be connections, Janet planted seeds of doubt. She always believed that if a connection was made between our children, it would be Casey and one of our girls.”
While we waited for Pops and Megan to join us, Annika filled in some of their histories.
Vance and Casey’s mom, Janet, had been childhood best friends with Callista and Sylvie’s mom, Libby.
They had remained close throughout their teen years and most of their adulthood, until Janet and her husband, Hank, started socializing more and more with Horatio.
They had a huge falling out shortly after Casey married his wife.
The rift began when Janet took it upon herself to invite Horatio and a handful of his friends to the wedding, knowing Callista, David, Libby, and Caleb wouldn’t have approved.
Not only because they had paid for the wedding, but also because they never trusted Horatio.
With Caleb’s gift, he knew Horatio wasn’t a good man. He had an ability similar to a reader, much like Dr. Branch’s gifts. He could tell a person’s level by a mere touch. In addition, he could sense whether the gift was being used for good or evil.
Janet and Hank were too enamored and blind to Horatio, and in the end, they chose their newfound friendship over their lifelong bond.
Annika and Sylvie’s parents had given them the chance to form their own opinions of Horatio, and it hadn’t taken long for them to agree with their parents.
Annika and Sylvie realized they couldn’t force Casey to cut ties with his parents, but they warned him that if he ever chose to follow them down their path, their relationship couldn’t and wouldn’t succeed.
Until today, Annika and Libby believed that Casey had minimal contact with his parents, and none with Horatio.
It was obvious that this hadn’t been the case at all.
Libby lovingly stroked her daughter’s head as she lay in her lap.
Sylvie had barely spoken since returning to the villa they had rented for the weekend.
She seemed almost catatonic. It was hard to reconcile the brilliant pediatric surgeon with the vulnerable woman who needed her mother in her fragile state.
“I never cared for Casey,” Libby stated, and at her daughter’s wounded look, she tried to soften her words.
“I’m sorry, sweetie. I remember what a bully he was.
There were several times I questioned Janet when she allowed him to hurt his brother, Vance.
Your dad and I witnessed his maliciousness even from a young age.
I warned her that he was like Cain, while Vance was Abel.
Only Janet and Hank never favored Vance.
They always gave Casey excuses and claimed it was normal brotherly rivalry.
“As time went on, he became more discreet with his cruelties, and I prayed that moving away from home and going off to college had made him mature. I should have trusted my instincts. They’ve never been wrong in the past.”
Jace shifted behind me, and I began to sit up, thinking I was crushing him since I was pressed against his side. He tightened his hold on me, while Noah unconsciously began to rub my belly on the other side.
Jace silently informed me, “You’re fine. My phone keeps vibrating, so I wanted to make sure it wasn’t anyone important.”
I smiled ruefully, realizing, surprise, surprise, I didn’t have my phone on me. “And?”
“And Ben, Micah, and Kade are having a grand old time in the pool. They sent a picture in our group chat.” Jace fondly rolled his eyes.
I bit my lip to keep from laughing. I didn’t want the others to think I was laughing at their pain. I attempted to focus back on the conversation, still feeling like I was missing major pieces of the puzzle.
Caleb took a seat at his daughters’ feet and lovingly patted his daughter’s leg. “I should have become suspicious when Casey would never shake my hand or seemed to shy away from me when I got too close to him.”
Annika snorted. “It’s our fault as well. I should have realized that our connection always felt forced. Every time you guys talked about your connections, and we saw how close you were with each other, it always felt different.”
Her mom shot her a worried look, and she returned a sad smile.
“I’m not in denial, Mom. Yes, I still need to grieve my marriage and reassess many things in my life.
I realize I’m compartmentalizing in a way you might not understand, but honestly, there’s a part of me that always knew something wasn’t right.
I never cared about his frequent ‘business’ trips and didn’t feel guilty when some of my clients made me spend hours in the courtroom or at the firm.
“Plus,” she smiled sadly, “I knew Casey’s hold over Vance was never healthy.
I should have been suspicious when he got irrationally jealous whenever I spent too much time with Vance.
Our friendship with Vance was always a bone of contention for him, and I should have spoken up when I suspected Casey was draining his brother. ”
Sylvie’s voice came out croaky as she finally spoke after hours of silence. “How could I have been so stupid? I admit that, as a girl, I had a crush on Casey, but when we finally consummated our relationship, I knew it wasn’t right. I allowed my childhood fantasies to rule my adult sensibilities.”
Casey was three years older than Vance, Annika, and Sylvie. Annika claimed she had always had a better “relationship” with him. I felt bad for her. It was clear she was heartbroken by the truth revealed to them. It was evident that she adored Vance, but I didn’t think it went deeper than that.
Sylvie dissolved into tears once more, and her mom and dad quickly attempted to comfort her. They embraced her and spoke reassuring words.
“Janet, Hank, and Casey fooled us all,” David stated bitterly. “They always wanted to be connected to our family and forced one.”
Lincoln absently rubbed his mark and asked, “How can you force a connection?”
Caleb rubbed his chin. “Forced is the wrong word. Lied is more like it. When the girls got their marks, we were excited that they had a connection out there. Janet insisted on throwing a party, and for the first time ever, Casey hadn’t been present.
“Sylvie came to me and told me how uncomfortable she was when Janet kept insisting on seeing her mark. I should have become suspicious of her near-manic desire to see it.”
“And I was arrogant enough to proudly show her mine,” Annika said self-derisively. “I didn’t even hesitate to give her permission to take a picture of it.”
Callista made a clicking sound with her mouth. “You were fourteen. How were you to know she was scheming over her own nefarious plans?”
Sierra gasped. “Casey tattooed their mark on him?”
My eyes widened when the pieces finally fell into place. How detestable could a person be to plan such a disgusting event? They had not only interfered in their son’s future but Sylvie’s and Annika’s as well.
Libby made a sound of discontent. “I asked why he had tattooed over his mark, and they said it was because he was proud of it and wanted the world to know.”
A thought finally struck me, and I blurted out, “Why did it take so long for Vance to be marked? Was he their original connected?”
The others looked stumped by my question, but Ethan cleared his throat, clearly having a theory of his own.
“Casey knew Vance was strong the moment he received his gifts.
Casey was jealous of the slight attention he got, so he began siphoning from Vance almost immediately.
He did horrible things to Vance when he tried to tell his parents and instilled a lot of fear in him.
“Since Casey had been siphoning off Vance for years, I think he broke him. Whatever you guys did today almost seemed to have restored him and made him even stronger.”
Caleb looked at his daughter, his mouth turning down in pain.
She had passed out. Her crying must have drained her completely, leaving her in a deep slumber.
He stood and hesitantly stepped toward us.
“What exactly did you do? What can you do?” He seemed to want to touch me, but Remy and Lincoln shifted as if ready to stop him.