low, like he might spare Rosa from hearing, he says, “What we didn’t know, was that Leon had tried to get his and Amanda’s information removed from the directory. He didn’t want to have a pair, but it was too late. There was another man, Wyatt, who had already found the information.” I squeeze Ares’s hand as I sit forward on my seat.
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