Chapter 37 Rose
The blunt ache in my skull morphs into a fierce stab.
My nails claw at Matthews’ shoulder as I slide onto the floor beside him, facing the space where Parker and Ella disappeared.
Fucking assholes. He’d better be using this time to say goodbye.
The relentless ticking has my skin crawling.
It feels like the room’s swallowed me whole, and I’m stuck with Matthews inside the belly of a beast of his creation.
He hasn’t moved since Parker injected him, but considering his size, he won’t be out long. The clock I’m monitoring flicks to nine forty-eight. Ten minutes have passed. Either Parker’s losing his touch, or he’s distracted. Where are they?
As if demonstrating his impeccable timing, Parker and Ella appear, hands clasped together. A dark determination shines in Parker’s eyes, but I’m having trouble getting a read on Ella.
“You okay?” I ask her. Who would be after watching themselves die? She nods, but her eyes are glazed over, her fingers clutching the charm on her necklace. “She should leave,” I say to Parker, snapping Ella from her daze.
“You won’t hurt him, will you?” she asks, looking between Parker and me.
I have to give her credit; she’s witnessed her death at the hands of this man and still requests mercy on his behalf. She’s always been the better person.
“We need answers,” Parker says, his eyes glued to Matthews.
“I’m staying,” Ella says, lifting her chin. “You two aren’t the only ones who deserve the truth.”
“If you’re sure,” I murmur, glancing at Parker.
They sit on the bed while we wait, Ella perched by Parker’s side. He’s holding her to him as if reluctant to let her go. A prickling heat fills my chest. It’s obvious something’s changed between them. I just hope Parker knows what he’s doing.
Matthews groans, and I funnel more power into him, holding him here in this time in case he tries to escape. I’ve been waiting for this moment for a long time. Finally, we will get answers, and he’ll get what’s coming to him.
“You ready?” I ask Parker, and he nods. The pounding in my head eases, his influence flowing into Matthews from where he sits on the bed. Show-off.
In his groggy and disoriented state, Matthews opens and closes his eyes a few times. He glances from Ella to me, but when he sees Parker he jerks awake, yanking his wrists against their restraint.
Parker springs to his feet. “Hey, Matthews.” One side of his mouth curves into a malicious smirk, but there’s no humor in his voice. “How’s the eye? Looks all better.”
Matthews mumbles something, but with the sedative flooding his system, the words are too slurred to decipher.
Parker lunges for him and crushes his forearm against Matthews’ throat.
“That’s not how this is going to work,” he growls.
“I’m going to ask you a question, and you’re going to answer it.
Now, tell me how you change the past without detection.
” Parker releases Matthews, glaring down at him while he coughs.
“Don’t know what you’re talking about,” Matthews says, his deep voice slow and hoarse.
Parker thrusts his arm back against Matthews’ throat. “Let’s try that one more time. How did you change Ella’s past without our memories splitting?”
I dig my nails into his shoulder. “And don’t bother lying. We already know about the sleeping pills and the scar on her wrist. How did you stop her from meeting her ex-boyfriend, Glenn?”
The moment Parker lets go, Matthews throws his head forward, striking Parker with surprising accuracy. I shudder at the sickening crack of bone colliding with bone and the hunger for vengeance behind Matthews’ steely gaze.
Parker falls backward and Ella cries out, moving to help him.
But Parker’s back on his feet, lunging at Matthews, nostrils flared and body shaking.
“Why did you tell Neurovida we were working with Fan?” he asks, and I shudder at the memory of the rogue time traveler on the video, plucking those men’s lives like grapes from a vine.
“To get you out of the way,” Matthews mutters.
“Why?” I ask, but Matthews remains silent.
“Still not getting it, are you?” Parker says.
He grabs the fabric of Matthews’ shirt and wrenches him forward, his other hand tightening into a fist. “Maybe if I break your other eye socket?” Matthews doesn’t flinch or pull away.
He just stares at Parker, his gaze lethal beneath his drooping eyelids.
“Silas, please.”
Ella’s voice is like a gentle lull in a roaring storm. She approaches us hesitantly and kneels beside Parker. Parker thrusts Matthews back against the wall, but releases him. Getting to his feet, he moves away, as if he can’t bear the sight of Matthews and Ella together.
“You’ve been lying to me for almost a year,” Ella says to Matthews, her voice unsteady. “Please tell the truth now. How do you change the past?”
I nearly choke. Not only because he’s done the impossible and changed the past, but he’s integrated himself into her life for one whole year? Why?
Every tense line in Matthews’ face eases as he stares at Ella. “I’m not telling them anything until I know they won’t run straight back into the past and undo the changes I’ve made,” he says slowly, his deep, smooth voice laced with sedative.
“If you’re so adamant about saving her, why did you shoot her?” Parker asks, his voice breaking.
Matthews slumps back against the wall, his sluggish gaze crawling between Parker and Ella.
“Don’t bother denying it,” I say, jerking my head toward Ella. “She’s seen Parker’s memory. Why did you shoot her?”
“She told me to,” Matthews says, his eyes rolling back in their sockets.
“Just like she told you to insert yourself into her past and take advantage of her?” Parker says, a humorless smile on his face.
Matthews shakes his head. “I barely touched her. I’d never stoop to that,” he says, and Ella gets to her feet, chin trembling as she moves to stand beside Parker.
“What do you want, a medal?” I ask Matthews.
“You changed her past. Replaced my memories. It goes against everything the Alphas stood for.” I take in his handsome face, the harsh lines eased by the strong analgesic flooding his system.
Once I thought he was a good man, with a rare decency so few possess.
Once I’d looked up to him. The thought makes me sick.
You don’t survive on the streets without being a sound judge of character. How was I so wrong about him?
“She would’ve been ashamed of you,” Parker says, fire behind every word.
Matthews laugh is low and cold. “Don’t pretend like you knew her,” he says slowly. “Wrapped up in your own self-pity. Drinking. High. Missing sessions. You had no idea what she went through before Neurovida. What happened to her.”
“What are you talking about?” Parker says, turning to me. “Rose?”
I shake my head. “All my memories of Ella’s ex-boyfriend are gone.” How the hell did Matthews erase them?
“Neurovida wrote the oath to stop us getting too close to each other,” Matthews slurs.
“They wrote the oath to stop our memories splitting and to keep us safe,” I say.
Matthews laughs, and his eyes drift shut, the tension bleeding from his drawn, scarred eyebrows.
“Wake up,” I yell. “What happened to Axis and Bandit after we left?” I demand, shaking his massive frame. “Axis and Bandit. Where are they?”
He slowly opens his eyes and mumbles, “Gone.”
“You killed them,” I whisper. My chest feels like it’s caving in on itself. Gritting my teeth, I hold back the tears stinging my eyes. I grip the front of Matthews’ shirt and pull him toward me. “Tell me how you change the past. Tell me,” I scream into his face.
Matthews’ head slumps forward. “I won’t.”
Pressure builds in my chest. I want to hurt him. I want him writhing in pain for what he’s done. “If you don’t tell me, I swear to fucking God, I’ll kill you.”
Matthews’ eyelids close, and my brain splits in agonizing pain. He’s trying to travel away. Crying out, I crumple to the floor, fighting to keep contact. Even sedated, his strength is incredible, but I grit my teeth and hold him in this time, my vision blurring.
“What’s happening?” Ella cries.
Parker stumbles toward us, hands landing beside mine on Matthews’ shoulders. Power surges from Parker, warm energy gushing through Matthews and returning to Parker’s hands, white-knuckled beside mine. Parker’s influence thrums against my palms, a silent request to be let in.
I draw it toward me, and the moment it passes my fingertips, it cascades up my arms and into my chest, gathering and melding with my own power before surging back toward my hands. Our combined influence barrels into Matthews, amplified tenfold, coursing through his body like an avalanche of power.
Matthews relents, and the searing pain abruptly ceases. I slump back against the wall, gasping for breath. Sweat shines on Parker’s brow, and Matthews is breathing heavily, as affected as we are by our mental game of tug-of-war.
Parker moves away, but I can still feel his power flowing through Matthews, his influence licking at the spot where my hand clutches Matthews’ strong shoulder.
“I’m done fucking around,” I mutter, and I turn to Ella. “Do you have any final questions you want to ask him?”
She frowns, looking to Parker. “What do you mean, final?”
I pull out my pocketknife and press the blade into Matthews’ neck.
“Rose,” Ella screams, rushing toward us. Parker holds her back, and she folds into his arms, burying her head against his chest.
“Don’t fuck with me, Matthews,” I say through gritted teeth. “How do you change the past?”
“I’m the only one who can do it,” he says. “Just like Parker can travel other people without touching them, and you can go back further than your own life.”
“If you believe you’re the only one who can do it, then you won’t mind telling me how.” I lean toward him, his blood beading at the tip of my knife. “Tell me before I slit your throat.”
Matthews’ gray-blue eyes stare into mine, his jaw set. His intentions are clear—he won’t tell us a thing. Not without motivation.
I glance at Parker. We prepared for this, stealing enough medicine to drug Matthews for days.
I know where Parker stands. We need answers, and to save Ella’s life, Bandit’s life, Axis’s life, I’ll gladly take Matthews’.
My eyes dart from Parker to Ella, and Parker nods.
Removing Ella from his arms, he steps toward me, his body vibrating.
“Say goodbye, Ella,” he says.
Her eyes widen. “Stop,” she begs, tears streaming down her cheeks. “Please don’t do this.”
Parker places one hand on my shoulder and the other on Matthews’, his influence gushing through us both.
“I’m sorry,” Parker says to Ella, his voice pained. “I need to do this to save you.” He checks his watch and lowers his head, and the room begins to shift.
Ella rushes forward, fisting the material at the back of Parker’s shirt. “Liam, please.”
A sudden coldness hits me at my core. Liam.
In all the time we’ve spent together, Parker’s never disclosed this information to me.
Yet he’s told Ella after spending a collection of hours with her.
My stomach turns at the intimacy of it. At the way he’s staring at her, as if she holds the power to build or break him.
Pull it together. I turn to Parker, ignoring the crushing in my chest. “Let’s go.”
Parker nods, but his amber eyes are focused solely on Ella. “I’ll come back for you,” he says in a low voice, and he travels us from the room.