CHAPTER TWELVE
“No, thanks. I’ve had enough for one evening,” Penny refused the glass of red wine Enzo held out to her.
“More for me,” he chuckled.
She rolled her eyes and made herself comfortable on the large sofa. They were at his place, and the house was quiet. It was cozy and relaxing, and Penny felt safe.
“Are you hungry?”
“A bit.”
“I’ll order pizza.”
She looked at him in disbelief, eyes wide.
“Enzo Salvador eats pizza?”
He laughed, grabbed his phone, and opened the app of his favorite pizza place.
“More often than you think. I told you I don’t like keeping the staff around most days. That includes the chef. It’s all a sham, cielo.”
“So, you’re not rich?”
“Oh, I am, but I like using my money for more practical things. Although, you could say that renting a house that looks like a palace is practical when it’s for the sake of a rescue mission.”
She slapped herself over the forehead.
“The house is not yours. It all makes sense now.”
“Why would I want to own a house in New York? If you ever visit Spain, you’ll see what I’m talking about. Done. Pizza will be here in forty minutes.”
“If I ever visit Spain,” she muttered. Why did she feel sad all of a sudden? She chased the dark thoughts away and decided to enjoy this peaceful evening with Enzo. Now that she knew who he was, she felt more comfortable around him. “Richard will be disappointed when I tell him you fed me pizza.”
“That’s why you won’t tell him.”
He sat down beside her and lifted her legs onto his lap.
“You know, you didn’t have to put on that show to make me come with you tonight.”
“I know. It’s not why I did it. I want Richard to feel like he’s in charge of your fate, like you’re not making decisions for yourself anymore. In his eyes, this isn’t a date between two adult people, it’s a sick exchange. Until this is over, it’s better to feed his fantasy.”
She nodded in understanding. It was a solid strategy, and she could tell Enzo was good at what he was doing.
She bet his plan was flawless, too. Before getting to his place, they had dropped Theresa at her own apartment, so Penny had had some time to talk with the woman.
She had found out she was an old friend of Enzo’s, and she had a family of her own: a human husband and two adorable shifter cubs.
When she’d asked her why she was risking her life like that, Theresa had said: “My babies could have been there… in Juniper’s and Thorn’s place.
Locked up in a room. Groomed for God knows what.
I’m glad Enzo came to me.” Well, Penny couldn’t argue with that.
She would have done the same. Silently studying Enzo’s perfect profile, she thought how lucky she was to be a simple, normal human.
Sure, extra strength and speed could always come in handy, and also the ability to hear and smell things a human’s senses would never be able to catch…
However, the risks were too great. She was falling into a contemplative mood again…
“Are you going to tell me what your plan is?”
“Yes. You’re going to help me and Theresa end this. Goldman will bring you at the event to keep an eye on Nina and Kosta. Your task is simple: call the police when the proverbial mierda hits el ventilador.”
“What the…? I don’t even… Does that mean…?”
“Yes. Shit plus fan. When they meet, you call the cops.”
“Is that even something the Spanish say?”
“No.”
She stifled a laugh. It was impossible to have a serious conversation with him, even when it was a life and death situation.
“Got it, senor. What will that meeting between the mierda and the ventilador will look like, though?”
“The reason why I insisted that everyone should bring their shifters is because I know this time they will join forces and unite against their common enemy. Theresa will not be there to hold them back. Her part is to encourage them by simply being there as a much stronger and older shifter and, of course, fight beside them. Then, I’ll be there, too.
Goldman doesn’t know I’m a ram-shifter, but the others will sense me the second I’ll walk into that room, and they will immediately read the new possibilities.
I will fight for them, too. We’re stronger together. ”
Penny nodded. Even though his plan seemed sound, hearing it made her shudder.
“What makes you be so sure they will turn against their owners? They’ve never done it before…”
“They will. You have to understand how manipulation and abuse work. I’ve been a Guardian since I turned eighteen, and that was an awful long time ago.
Since then, I’ve seen so many cases of mistreated sheep-shifters that it’s easy to recognize the pattern.
Did you know that the best method of controlling someone, shifter or human, has nothing to do with physical abuse?
The best method is to manipulate the victims mentally and emotionally, hit them hard in their self-worth and self-love until they start believing they are worthless, invisible, and no one would want them anyway.
At that point, the victims come to think their abuser is the only person in the world who will ever pay attention to them, and that’s better than nothing.
That’s why Goldman and all his other friends kidnap their shifters when they’re young: they’re more vulnerable.
A combination of undermining them while at the same time feeding them well and offering them all the material things a child would want will lead to the creation of the perfect submissive.
Bonus points if the kids are taken from an unfriendly environment and tricked with the promise of a better life. ”
Penny shook her head.
“This is horrible. I understand how it works now, but please don’t say another word. I just want all this to be over. Honestly, I don’t know how you’ve managed to get this far… Working on such cases for so many years and still keeping your sanity.”
Enzo smiled bitterly.
“Who says I’m still sane? After all, look at me.
I’m a loner. A wanderer. Sure, I have a home, but I rarely spend more than a week or two in Spain every year.
Sometimes I think my mission has turned into a drug.
And a very dangerous one at that. I don’t have a life, Penny, and there’s no end of the road for me.
I will never get to retire from immortality, so I will never get to retire from being an Aries Guardian. This is all there is for me.”
She sighed deeply and threaded her fingers through her long, blonde hair to keep herself from jumping into his arms and hugging him for dear life.
She felt his pain. She could hear the despair in his voice, she could sense how lost he was.
Even when his mission was clear, and his work made a real difference in the world, he was a lost man.
“Tell me more about the Aries curse. Have any of your brothers or sisters broken it so far?”
Enzo leaned over her stretched legs to grab the bottle from the coffee table and refill his glass.
As he relaxed back against the sofa, he let his left hand linger on her exposed calf.
His fingers traced small circles on her soft skin as he looked in the distance, outside the window facing the front yard.
“Yes. I don’t stay in touch with many of my siblings, mostly because I don’t know who they are, but I’m pretty close with Demetri and Jace.
They have both found their mates recently.
They’re older than me. It took them years to find these women who could break the curse.
You see… as a Guardian, it’s hard to find your true mate when you have your mission to carry on day in and day out, and when not many women jump at the idea that once they are mated to you, they’ll become immortal as well. ”
“Really? I thought everyone wanted to be a vampire.”
Enzo laughed. “Vampire? That’s ridiculous!”
“Because they’re immortal!”
“Gods are immortal. Demigods. Why would you want to be a vampire and drink human blood when you could be a demigod, like me?”
She rolled her eyes. “Well, for one, I had no idea demigods were a thing. I’ve always known about shifters, but it never crossed my mind that some of them might be immortal.”
“Fair enough.”
His hand traveled up her leg and stopped right under the hem of her skirt. Penny shivered. In an attempt to mask it, she shuffled on the sofa.
“My shoulder fell asleep,” she explained uneasily.
“Here, try this.”
He grabbed a small pillow from the other end of the sofa and positioned it behind her back.
“Better?”
“Mhm.”
They were silent for a long minute, neither of them knowing what to say. Enzo didn’t seem too excited to be talking about his curse. It was a sore spot for him. If she wanted to get any real reaction out of him, then Penny had to take charge.
“There’s hope, then. If two of your brothers have found their soul mates and are now free of the curse, then there’s a good chance you will, too.”
He shrugged. “I guess. It’s just hard for me…
getting attached to someone… being with her without knowing whether I will be able to stick around when the year ends.
Look at how much damage my father has done!
It’s too risky, you know?” He looked into her blue eyes.
“Penelope, I already feel like I’m slipping.
Whenever I’m around you, I feel hopeful and terrified at the same time.
I’ve done my best to stay away from relationships.
I’ve almost never gone out anyone more than once.
And now… I feel like I’m losing control, like I’m breaking my own rules, one after the other. I don’t know how to stop this…”
She scooted closer to him and took his face between her warm palms.
“Stop what?”
“Stop… falling in love with you…”
She swallowed hard. She wanted to say something, but she was too afraid it might ruin the moment.
Instead, she leaned in and kissed him slowly, deeply, as if she was drawing her life force by tasting his lips and the tip of his tongue.
Enzo sighed and scooped her up in his arms, guiding her to sit in his lap.
Just as things were getting more heated than they had expected, the doorbell rang, making both of them jump and separate quickly, as if someone had just caught them doing something they weren’t supposed to do.
“Pizza is here,” Enzo chuckled nervously.