Chapter 19 #2
“No, they haven’t. Pretty sure they gave up, too,” he says.
“Myssa didn’t know anything about it except that the guy Nik went out with was named John, and she said they met a few weeks before.
She actually helped Nik meet the guy. She said they’d only had a few dates.
” Knox looks around and lowers his voice, leaning towards me so no one else can hear.
“Myssa and Nik were going to go out, but Myssa got a migraine and decided to stay home. Guess Nik made plans with this John guy, regardless. Myssa was woken up later by a knock at 2am. Two cops informing her about Nik and asking for her to identify her body. She was never the same after that—it devastated her. She’s been holding onto the guilt of it ever since. ”
I lean back and process what he’d just told me. I can’t imagine how devastating that must have been. She has been through so much, and now we throw all this at her?
We get up from the bikes and move over to the free weights. This angle gives me a perfect view of Myssa at the circuit station as Knox continues.
“She just talked to her a few hours before that and everything was fine. It devastated Myssa, but she never really grieved that loss. She was cold and disconnected for months, and threw herself back into her work.”
“Fuck, man, that’s horrible,” I say, adding weights onto the bar.
“Yeah, it’s a lot. They had no real family. Their parents passed away in a car accident years ago, and they only had each other.”
I nod, trying not to stare at her.
“Vix and I kept tabs on her, making sure she was good, and it wasn’t until about two months ago that we finally got her back out of the house and coming out to the gym or doing something as simple as hanging out for coffee.”
I stand there, absorbing everything that Knox is saying, and the urge to protect her overpowers me again. I can’t imagine how hard that must have been, having her sister ripped away.
“I’m just saying, Z, if you plan on doing anything with her, know there are broken layers within that woman. She needs to heal, and she doesn’t need to get hurt by anyone else.”
I can respect Knox and the fact that he feels he needs to protect her as much as I want to. But there’s no way he’s going to keep me from her.
“Never planned on hurting her, Knox, but I can’t deny I feel something there. It's crazy that I have just met her, but I feel like I know her,” I say, sneaking a glimpse of her again through the mirror.
Standing at the abs machine, she puts her hands above her head to grab onto the bar so she can sit. As her shirt rides up, my stomach drops, and anger boils through me in an instant.
“What the fuck is that?” I say, gritting my teeth.
Knox looks through the mirror, following my line of sight, and notices it, too. He stiffens. “What the hell?”
We both drop what we’re doing and storm towards Myssa. She looks like she doesn’t have a care in the world with her headphones on, and I’m sure Knox and I look deranged, but I don’t give a fuck.
“What is that?” I point at her.
Standing back up to let go of the bar, she takes her headphones out of her ears.
“Hey, what’s up?” she asks innocently, and with a hint of confusion.
Knox, with the same amount of anger and concern in his voice, says sternly, “Myssa, what the hell happened to your stomach?”
Her smile fades, and her eyes go wide, as if she’s been caught in a lie. But she recovers quickly and just glares back at us.
“It’s nothing,” she stammers.
“That is not fucking nothing, Myssa,” Knox snaps. “lift up your shirt right now,” he demands pointing at her stomach.
“Shhhh, damnit, Knox, don’t make a scene. It’s not a big deal.” She slaps his arm away.
“Fuck that, show us,” he says, his eyes blazing.
“No, Knox,” she says stubbornly.
“Myssa, please?” I calmly ask.
She sighs and reluctantly pulls her shirt up. To our horror, there are bruises and small cuts all across her abdomen, like finger marks.
“Who did this to you?” Knox demands, examining closer.
Pulling her shirt back down, she seems to hesitate before giving an explanation. But Knox and I look at each other. We know exactly who did this.
“Well see, I…”
“Stop,” Knox says. "I know you too well, and I know you are trying to spin this to be not a big deal. “Damnit, Myssa don’t lie to us.”
She sighs in defeat and avoids meeting our eyes, which just furthers our suspicions. Her voice is a whisper as she confesses what we feared. “I had a run in with Jasper last night.”
“Fuck,” I say, wiping my hand down my face.
“That’s it, Myssa,” Knox says sternly. “This is not up for discussion or debate. You are staying with one of us.”
“She can stay with me?” I say before thinking.
Her head snaps up to me.
“I renovated the loft on the top floor of the club. I have two bedrooms and plenty of room. I can pick you up before I go to the club, and I’ll let you in. I’ll get you a spare key, and then if you want, you can come back down to the club?” I say.
I can see she’s reluctant to say yes.
“Guys, this really isn’t necessary.”
“The fuck it isn’t,” Knox says.
“Are you two done?” she huffs, squaring off with her arms crossed.
“I don’t need to stay with anyone I can handle myself. And this is exactly why I didn’t tell you, Knox, because your overbearing brother mentality kicks into overdrive. He’s just fucking with me. I can handle it,”
“No, Myssa, you can’t handle it. You have no idea what he’s capable of, or how fast you can get lost in that world. It’s not safe,” he argues.
“I understand what you're saying, Knox, but I made it back before he could do anything else, I did,” she adds, firmly pointing inward.
“By myself, without you or you.” She nods up at me, throwing me into the argument.
“What happens when you can’t? We don’t even know what his plan is with you, and that is a dangerous spot to be in for us,” he says with a look of concern.
It’s half true. We know what he’s been up to, and it’s clear with Myssa being able to transfer like she does that Jasper is on to her being an Original. But I have a feeling she’s a part of his bigger plan.
“I’m pretty sure I have put the puzzle pieces together,” she says. “He wants my soul, and he is using Nik to get to me. And for some ridiculous reason, he just keeps taunting and playing with me,” she says, clearly exhausted.
“He’s been doing this for months, Knox—not days, but months. It’s the same thing over and over, and the only new thing is, he can touch me now. Six fucking months. I have kept this to myself and kept alive just fine.”
“I know, Myssa, and I wish to God you would have come to me sooner. I could have helped, I could have done something,” he pleads.
“And said what, Knox? Oh hey, some fucking whack job is haunting my dreams and threating me with my sister? How crazy would that have sounded?” She looks defeated.
“I’m sorry, but I can’t just sit back and let you do this on your own. It's not happening,” Knox says with finality.
“He says he wants something from me, and this last time…” she shudders, “it’s clear it’s just me he wants. He…” she pauses,” he licked me.” She visibly cringes.
“HE FUCKING WHAT?” we both yell simultaneously.
“Shhh, Jesus, both of you need to shut up,” she hisses.
“Look, this whole thing has been crazy and hard to wrap my head around, but at the same time, I feel like I’ve known about Aetheriem this whole time,” she says calmly.
The amount of anger running through me is making my veins pop, as if they want to rip out of my body. My heart is pounding so hard from the rage. I take a breath and gently take Myssa’s hand in mine. She doesn’t resist as her eyes meet mine.
The touch instantly tapers down all the rage, and in its place is an inferno of lust towards her. Immediately, it brings me back to the conversation with Jess and Steph.
Just confirming even more that she’s the one.
I swallow hard. “Listen, I think it would be best if you stayed with me, and like I said, I have an extra room. To be honest, your other choice will be Knox and I both sleeping at your apartment, and well… I don’t think you have enough room for the both of us, but I can tell you now that neither of us is leaving you alone. That isn’t happening,”
She seems to ponder it for a moment before sighing in defeat.
“Fine, but, Knox, I’ve seen and smelled your place.” She bunches up her nose, and God, if she doesn’t look adorable.
“Hey!” he protests.
She laughs. “I think I’ll take my chances with Zayne.”
Heat flashes through me at her words, and at the realization that she will be in my place tonight.
“Whatever,” Knox says, rolling his eyes. “My place is not bad, Myssa.”
“I mean…” I start to say, shrugging my shoulders, and Knox walks away in a huff back to the weights.
“I don’t need this kind of abuse,” he says over his shoulder.
We both laugh at Knox’s pouting exit.
“Good, then it’s settled,” I say, looking back at Myssa.
“I guess so, but really, Zayne I can—”
“Take care of yourself, yeah I get that,” I say, cutting her off. “Consider us roomies, then.” I cringe at the word, but want her to feel comfortable.
“Ok, so can I get back to my workout now?” she asks.
“Yeah,” I say, reluctant to leave her, but I nod and start to head back to Knox.
I need to get ahold of Jess and Steph and see if they have found anything out.
With Jasper getting more arrogant, there’s no telling what he’ll do the next time he sees her.
Myssa needs to be taught how to control her feelings, so she can cross through the frequency quicker.
Jasper is getting stronger, and something needs to stop him once and for all.