• E L E V E N •

"I was innocent. And then I found Wattpad."

• • •

"I'm home, Grandma!" William calls as he pushes open the side door of the remodeled hotel. "And I have a few friends who are staying for dinner!"

A woman with short, white hair bursts out of another room with an apron and a grin.

"Boaz!" She says. "It's good to see you! And Asher, I'm glad you're back!"

Back? I look to Asher, but quickly look away when I see the look on face. The fear and worry as his big, brown eyes dart to me. Something about that sentence made him wish I didn't hear it. For his sake, I choose to just ignore what she said.

"Well, dinner is almost finished," She announces cheerfully. "William, why don't you take them into the lobby so we can introduce everyone to this young girl?"

She gives William a pointed look and waggles her eyebrows suggestively. I have to fight back a laugh, instantly put at ease with this woman.

William sighs, hiding a grin, and leads the way to the lobby.

"Rage, I would like to apologize," William says blank-faced.

"What for?" I ask, furrowing my brow.

William grins, "For my crazy family. They can be a bit... well, crazy."

I laugh, "They couldn't be any worse than my family."

"Your family is amazing," Asher tells William with a distant look in his eyes.

Boaz grunts, "Yeah. William's got a good family now."

I note the way he uses the word 'now.'

William absently rubs a long scar on his forearm as he thinks. However, his thoughts are interrupted by the sound of footsteps.

"William! Who's the girl!" An old man calls boisterously, looking at Asher.

"Hello," I call, trying to get his attention.

A different man whacks him on the back of the head. "Jim! That's Asher and you know it!"

"Aww," Jim whines. "You ruin all my fun, Maverick."

Maverick sticks his tongue out, his bright blue eyes wide as he teases him.

"You two are giving her a bad impression," Another complains. "I'm sorry for them, darling. What's your name?"

"My name is Rage," I say, looking him in the eye.

"Oh, I see how it is," He laughs.

"Evan," William hisses. "That really is her name!"

Evan sobers up instantly and looks at me. "Really?"

Sighing, I nod. "Yeah."

"Lucky!" Another man shouts. "That'd be the best name ever!"

"Well, since these idiots aren't introducing themselves, I'll start," A man with a large nose decides. "My name is George. Here is Oliver, Maverick, Christian, Jim, Night, and Evan. The woman you spoke with briefly is Judy."

"It's nice to meet you all," I say with a grin.

"Let's eat!" Christian declares, his salt and pepper hair sticking up in every direction.

Boaz falls off the couch.

"Ughh..." He groans.

"What happened?" I laugh.

"Nice of you to delight in my pain," Boaz grumbles, laying on the ground.

Smirking, William sticks a hand out and helps Boaz to his feet.

"What happened?" Oliver repeats. "Either my hearing is shot or you never answered the pretty girl's question..."

Fighting back blush, I laugh. All of them are so kind and exuberant. I can't believe William even thought of apologizing for them.

"I was trying to get up to get to the food," Boaz explains. "I guess I just fell or something. Either way, I'm pretty sure I just shaved off a few years of my life."

"Oh, quit being such a drama queen," Jim scoffs. "You young people..."

"You're one to talk!" Night exclaims. "You cried yesterday! Over toast!"

"Well, it's not my fault!" Jim yells back. "All I want to do is learn to cook something! Anything! I was trying to make toast and it got burnt!"

"How do you burn toast?!" Christian laughs.

"The lever was making fun of me!" Jim defends. "Besides, it is a complicated piece of machinery!"

One look to Asher and we both lose it. Peals of laughter bubble out of me as I crack up. I have to stop myself, though, when I see that everyone is staring at me.

"Oh, I'm sorry," I apologize, wiping my tears. "I wasn't trying to make fun of everyone."

Or laugh that long, I add in my head.

"Don't apologize!" Jim exclaims. "You have a beautiful laugh and I'm sure these three boys would agree, right?"

Fighting back blush once more, I can't resist looking at them. All three of them are looking at me, a light blush coating each of them.

"Let's eat!" Judy calls from the doorway, shooting me a wink.

I grin at her and follow her into the dining room where an enormous table sits. Despite our numbers, all of us will be able to sit at the dining table. I take a seat in the middle and William and Asher quickly sit down next to me. Boaz takes his sweet time and plops down in the seat across from me as the others take their places.

After serving myself, I tear into the food. A whimper gets cut off by the amazing food in my mouth. I can't remember the last time I had a real meal. Oh, wait. I've never had one. And I've never eaten anything like this, that's for sure.

"Judy," I tell her seriously. "You are the most amazing and incredible and talented person in the entire world."

"I know," She says blankly, her green eyes twinkling with hidden laughter.

"And humble too!" Evan chimes in.

"Exactly why we married her," George agrees, giving her an adoring smile.

Chuckling, I serve myself more food. Asher and Boaz eat an insane amount of food, even for "growing boys." I make a note of it and decide to ignore it for now.

Soon, dinner ends with laughter and conversation.

"Thank you, Grandma," William says, standing up.

Asher, Boaz, and I quickly follow suit and trail after William.

"Now," William says, opening the door to a new room. "Are you guys okay to stay longer?"

"My parents won't notice," Boaz says with a shrug.

Asher just gives William a look. Nodding, William turns to me.

"I'll stay," I say with a matching shrug.

William beams and declares, "In that case, I vote we play truth or dare!"

• • •

"I dare you to..." I trail off looking around. "Jump off the roof without using your powers to cushion the fall."

William smirks and rises to his feet. "Let's go then. The easiest way to the roof is up these stairs to the attic."

I climb to my feet as well and glare at my purple hands. For one of my dares, Boaz had me smear food coloring on my face. My pale skin quickly stained purple.

We all follow William up to the roof. The sun is setting in the horizon, making for a beautiful and picturesque landscape. The golden rays of the sun mix with the blues of the sky, but the two colors make pink, oddly enough.

William stands at the edge of the roof and turns around. I highly doubt he will jump. We are about four stories in the air. But, to my surprise, he slowly starts to lean backward until he is falling down. We rush to the edge of the roof and watch as William grips a tree branch that reached out to him. He slides down the branch to the ground. Looking up at us, he takes a bow.

"I said without using your powers!" I shout down to him.

"No, you said without using them to cushion the fall!" William calls back. "I didn't cushion the fall, I merely took a detour."

I glare down at him before grinning. It was a good idea on his part.

I leap off the roof myself and use my air powers to slow my descent until my feet gently kiss the ground. Grinning, I take a bow, just like William did. Boaz rolls his eyes and walks away from the edge of the roof with Asher, going down the normal way via the stairs.

William and I jog inside and meet them in William's room. The large room is filled with plants. They grow everywhere making me feel as if I am in a jungle or forest inside. There are vines growing up walls, a lemon tree, blueberry bushes, flowers, and all sorts of other plants growing and thriving in his room. I sit down on the spot I was last sitting in and wait as Asher comes in.

"Boaz is coming," Asher announces. "I suggest William takes his turn and we do not wait on Boaz. He may take a while."

I shrug, not really caring either way.

William nods and says, "Rage, truth or dare?"

With a groan, I reply, "Dare."

With as many secrets as I have, the truth is a risky option.

"I dare you to sit on someone's lap for the next three rounds."

I glare at William and plop down on his lap as hard as I can, smirking at his wince. I chose his lap because this way he has to suffer with me. Besides, Asher is pretty strong, but he is only a few inches taller than me. I would choose Boaz since he is the tallest and strongest of the three, but he's being lazy somewhere else.

Asher takes his turn next, "Rage, truth or dare?"

"Dare," I sigh.

"I dare you to... drink a tablespoon of Tabasco sauce," Asher says, a smile playing on his lips.

I groan and rise to my feet again. I've already drunk a ton of nasty stuff for this game. What's one more, right?

The three of us head down to the kitchen.

"There you guys are!" Boaz exclaims. "I've been waiting forever!"

He shoves a buttered roll in his mouth and looks at us expectantly, as if waiting for an explanation.

"We're here for the Rage's next dare," Declares William. "We were in my room, waiting for you."

Boaz scoffs, "Did you really think I would leave the room without stopping at the kitchen?"

"Good point," Asher chuckles.

William carefully passes over the tablespoon. Pinching my nostrils, I quickly drink the tabasco sauce. I screw up my face and hastily take the offered glass of water. When you can't smell it, it doesn't taste as bad because your senses are connected. I have experience eating nasty food because sometimes that's all you get to eat for a while.

William laughs and Asher remarks, "I can't believe you can drink that without even gagging."

I stick my tongue out at him and say, "You're just jealous. Now, are we heading back?"

William nods and calls cheerfully, "Back to my room!"

Once we are inside and I am glowering from William's lap, Boaz takes his turn.

"Asher, truth or dare?"

Asher cringes and says, "Truth?"

"Do you feel guilty eating meat?" Boaz asks curiously.

"Boaz!" William groans behind me. "You could've asked that any other time. You just wasted his truth."

Asher grins happily and answers, "No. I know that it is just the circle of life. Besides, if I ate only plants, I would be stealing their food. Better to kill them quickly rather than to starve the animals to death. Also, people aren't going to stop killing animals and selling them just because one person stops eating meat."

I nod my head, understanding his logic and reasoning.

"Asher, truth or dare?" I ask, hoping he will choose truth again.

"Truth?" Asher replies hesitantly.

"Who all knows about all of your guys' powers?"

Asher's shoulders slump with relief. I wonder what he was worried about me asking.

"Let's see... No one else knows about William's powers, Gage's biological parents know about his powers but not his other father, and Darkon's parents and brother don't know anything about his power. As for Boaz and Nekoda, everyone in their families knows about their powers. No one knows about my powers or Kolton's," Asher lists.

I nod, filing that information away.

"Rage," William starts. "Truth or dare?"

Biting my lip, I decide, "Truth."

William beams and asks, "Who knows about your powers?"

I stiffen up even further, "I don't know. A lot of people, though. That's why I moved here."

They all exchange looks that I cannot interpret.

"Boaz, truth or dare?" Asher asks finally.

"Truth," Boaz groans. "I'm done getting up."

"Hmm... What did you think when you first met Rage?" Asher asks with a glint in his chocolate eyes.

"This girl crazy," Boaz laughs, shaking his head. "Her methods of motivation are scary."

"Oh, come on," I say with a roll of my eyes. "If you had just tried, then I wouldn't have had to motivate you."

"Now I'm curious about her motivation..." William mutters.

Boaz's eyes widen. "Don't be!"

I chuckle at their behavior.

We continue, playing a few more rounds before Boaz announces, "I have to get going and head home now."

I stand up as well and agree, "I should probably be on my way as well."

"Bye, Rage," William calls and Asher nods a goodbye.

"Thanks for inviting me," I say with a warm smile before quickly leaving.

It's bittersweet, really. I'm grateful to have met these boys and to know them, but now I have to head home to my secrets and hollowing life.

I shake my head at my dramatic thoughts and head inside my home.

• • •

Q: How did you stumble across this book?

A: Well, I wrote it... But I do want to know how you guys have found my book. Like, through the tags, searching something, etc.