Rosa pulls away from Mal. “Let me,” she tells William, returning to the couch. “Only Amanda and Leon know the whole story, and she never told me the details. But we know something happened between the three of them. Leon did something to Wyatt, something that was intended to take his abilities and get rid of him.”
“I don’t understand. Why would he want to do that?” I look at Dante, and then Milo and Ollie who are not far away on the couch. “I thought you said it was different, that pairs don’t feel jealousy toward each other?” I don’t mean for my words to come out like an accusation, but they do.
“We don’t Laura; I’ve never met another pair that has ever felt that way,” Ares tells me, his eyes searching mine to see if I believe him.
“Laura, it was Leon. I can promise you, nothing like that has ever happened before, or since,” William adds.
“So, he was, like, crazy or something?”
“That’s all we can assume.” Rosa lifts her hands at a loss for more answers. “I know Amanda called me one night, frantic about something that Leon had done. I could barely understand her, she was so upset.” She looks at the fireplace, her eyes glazing over with the sheen of tears.
Taking a few moments to compose herself, Rosa wipes a delicate finger under her eyes and takes a deep breath. “She came to me for help, but there was only so much she would let me do. She was afraid of what Leon would do if he found out I was the one to help her. She wouldn’t tell me where she was, or even what Leon had done, I just knew she was desperate to get away from him.”
I sit forward on the chair, eager for any information she can give me. “So, what happened? Did she come back here? How did you help her?”
“Not much.” Rosa looks over at William, and he gives her an encouraging nod. “I gave her money, but she would only take cash. I gave her everything I had, and she wouldn’t stay until I could get more. I begged her to stay with us. I promised we would protect her, but she wouldn’t. She was terrified of Leon by the time she ran away from him.”
“So, she came back here then?” I mutter, almost to myself. Thinking back on how my mom said this was where we belonged, was she really ready to stop running?
“She did. She was only an hour away when she called, that’s why I didn’t have much time to gather anything for her. She wouldn’t even stay the night with us.” Rosa tips her head up to the ceiling before meeting my eyes again. “It was dark, but she looked horrible. She was too thin. She had dark circles under her eyes. I knew something bad had happened, but she only told me that Leon was dangerous, and made me promise I wouldn’t ever go near him. I begged her to go home to her family, to stay with us, but she wouldn’t. She said if she stayed, she would only put us in danger.”
“Did she have a plan, or tell you where she was going?” Ares questions, running his palm over my back, reminding he’s here with me, and so are the others.
Rosa is shaking her head before he can even finish the question. “No, if she hadn’t been desperate for the cash, she wouldn’t even have come to me. I told her I would get more money, that when she was safe to get hold of me, and I would get it to her, but I never heard from her, and then, your grandparents…” Rosa covers her mouth and buries her face against Mal’s chest.
William pinches the bridge of his nose, a heavy sigh falling from him. “After Amanda disappeared, it was like nothing happened. We didn’t hear from her again. Leon was still out West; I know because I checked up on him.”
“It wasn’t until the fire two years later that we learned what had really happened.” William places his hand on Rosa’s leg. “Leon had somehow managed to strip Wyatt of his abilities. Apparently, it killed Wyatt in the process, and Leon was injured as well, that was when Amanda came to us.” The information isn’t exactly new, but it’s still shocking to hear.
“Leon hadn’t given up looking for Amanda, he went to her family—your grandparents.” He pauses and then cautiously continues, “They think it was an accident, that things got out of hand, but no one knows for certain. There was a fire, but it wasn’t any normal fire, it was elemental fire. All we know is when the fire finally stopped burning, there wasn’t anything left of your family home. Nothing. Just ash.”
“How did you know it was Leon?” My voice is flat. Some unnamed emotion is simmering under the surface of my calm.
“The fire was unnatural, had to be investigated. Leon didn’t make it a secret he was coming to visit the Carmichaels. Everything unraveled as soon as the Council looked into him. He had several norms working for him,”
Dante interrupts his father and informs me, “Norms, normal people like Mia.” I figured, but it was nice of him to clarify.
“Leon had isolated himself from any other Infinities. No one had any idea that Amanda was missing or that Leon had already killed Wyatt. It was a simple matter of having someone with the right abilities questioning his employees. You can’t keep secrets from someone who can get inside your head.” William glances at Ares but looks away quickly.
“That’s crazy,” Ollie mutters from the floor near my legs.
Rosa’s eyes are rimmed in red and she sniffles a few times before clearing her throat to speak. “Mal works with the Council; that’s the only reason we know so much, and she was… is my friend. We looked for her after they presumed Leon was dead, but…”
“Presumed dead. You mean no one knows if he’s actually dead?” I blurt before Rosa can finish.
William shakes his head slowly. “No one could have made it out of that fire, Laura. No bodies were recovered, but everyone involved is confident that Leon is dead.” His eyes lower, and what he’s not adding is that my grandparents died with him.
I let my back fall against the chair behind me, feeling tired even though it’s not even noon yet. “My mom never stopped running.” The words just start to fall from my lips. “She either didn’t believe Leon was dead, or she didn’t know.” I drop my elbows to my knees, cradling my head in my hands. “She never once mentioned her family, she didn’t talk about the past at all, not even my dad.” I look over at Rosa, and William has his arm around her while Mal has both of her hands folded in his. She doesn’t look weak for taking their support, they look stronger together, a united front. “Was Leon my dad?”
Rosa flinches, but that’s the only sign of discomfort she shows. “It had to be Wyatt. There are no other possibilities.”
“But you don’t know or can’t tell which?” It’s horrible to think, but I’d much rather Wyatt have been my father than Leon, he’s a monster.
“It wouldn’t matter.” Ollie turns so he’s kneeling in front of me. His clear green eyes search mine as he reaffirms, “Even if he were, it doesn’t matter.” I tip my lips in a sad replica of a smile.
“I don’t know, bella ragazza; I never met Wyatt. But Oliver is correct,” Rosa tells me.
Shaking away the thoughts of which of them might be my dad, I focus on what we need to do now. I still don’t know what happened to my mom, and if Leon truly is dead, where would she have gone?