We hit the grass of the Veil. I let him go as I straightened. The circle of scorched earth still made me clench my fists. Months of crossing souls and that fucker… Pushing it from my mind, I turned back to Louis.
His eyes were wide as he looked around. “So, this is the Veil.”
“Yep. The walls are supposed to be clear but as you can see…” At least the fog had gotten lighter. That’s progress at least.
“And what’s that?” He looked up at the sky.
“That’s the Way.” I turned back to him. “It’s how you move on.”
He nodded.
“Louis.” It was my last chance to say it. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have come down to New Orleans. You’d still be alive; the Witch’s Council wouldn’t have attacked-”
“Lexie, stop.” Louis shook his head. “None of this is your fault. The Witch’s Council made their own choices. That’s on them. You’re not so powerful that it’s all on you. People make their own choices.”
I nodded. “I know but… your kids, and Uma, Savannah…”
A gentle smile spread across his face. “They’re going to be okay. They’ll heal and move on. The way it should be.”
I nodded.
A ball of purple light came down out of the Way.
I hugged him as my eyes burned. “Thank you. Thank you so much.”
He hugged me back. “It’s up to you now.”
Tears rolled down my face as I stepped back and let him go. “I’ll be there for Juan.”
He shook his head. “You need to catch this guy. And make sure he can’t do anything like this again.”
I nodded. “How could I stop anyone from doing it again?”
His lips pressed together. “Talk to Uma. Tell her what you need. She’ll teach you.”
A purple door appeared. It opened, showing Louis’ kitchen at his house in New Orleans. A silver haired woman got to her feet and smiled. An elderly man folded a newspaper and turned toward the doorway. A smile blossomed over his face. A woman in her thirties with long dark hair and big brown eyes stepped away from the stove. She tore off her apron and rushed to the door. Tears fell down her cheeks as she smiled a huge smile.
“Rosalinda…” Louis’ voice cracked. He ran through the door and lifted her into his arms. She held his face between her hands as she kissed him over and over. The door closed and turned back into a ball of purple light before shooting back up into the Way.
“Goodbye.”
Chapter 24
August 24th
I put my bag in the back of Miles’ truck. Everything was packed up but the chairs. Asher was awake and moving around better than before. He was still in pain but he was moving better. I fiddled with the zipper on my bag.
“Lexie.” Miles’ voice jarred me back to reality.
I turned to him.
“The guys are waiting.”
My stomach knotted. This was it… Dropping my voice until it was barely a whisper. “Are we doing the right thing?”
He moved closer. “We can’t leave it like this.”
I nodded. This was it. I followed Miles out from the back of the truck and to the almost empty campsite. The guys were sitting in their chairs, waiting. Chewing on the corner of my lower lip, I walked past them and took my chair.
Miles didn’t sit down. “We all know why we’re sitting here. It’s time to make a decision.”
The tension rose. Everyone made a point of not looking at each other. My chest grew tighter.
“Does Lexie date no one? Or does she date all of us?” Miles looked around the group. “We’ve talked about it the entire trip. Fought about it. Yelled at each other. But before we leave this site, we will make a decision.”
Hades yawned loudly in the silence.
“I think the first question is, what does she want?” Zeke leaned forward and braced his elbows on his knees.
Everyone turned to me. Oh, shit… I swallowed hard as my heart pounded. “I want to keep your friendships intact. I’ll go with whatever choice will make that happen. But I am not going to choose.”
“Then that’s it.” Zeke turned to the others, his eyes burning. “Because we’re not going to fucking pass her around like she’s-”
“Why the fuck do you think we would treat her that way?” Ethan barked, his eyes flashing. “You’ve known us since we were four. Have we ever done anything to make you think we’d treat a girl that way?”
Zeke thought about it. “No-”
“Then why the fuck would we start?” Ethan began to spin his rings. “Your faith in us is overwhelming, Zeke.”
“Ethan.” Miles tried to calm him down.
“How about you let us answer for ourselves instead of deciding for us?” Isaac surged to his feet, drawing everyone’s attention. “There are four other guys here and everyone has their own relationship with her. Everyone has their own boundaries. Their own limits. You can’t speak for all of us!”
“Calm down.” Miles stepped forward getting everyone’s attention again. “Zeke was simply saying, in his way, that us making her feel that way would be unacceptable.” Miles turned and met Zeke’s gaze. “Right?”
Zeke clenched and unclenched his jaw before he nodded. The knots in my stomach grew bigger.
“I could not date anyone,” I rasped as I looked down at my fingers in my lap.
“Is that what you really want?” Asher’s rough voice had me lifting my head to meet his eyes.
I couldn’t lie about this. I shook my head.
“Then you need to tell us.” Miles shifted on his feet.
I met Miles’ gaze. He was right, I was tiptoeing over what I really wanted. It was selfish and asking of them way more than anyone ever should. But it’s what I wanted… “I’d be happy with the group dating option.” I leaned forward, resting my elbows on my thighs. “How do you guys feel about it?”
Thundering silence was my answer. My face burned but I refused to look away from them. This is what I wanted, I’ll own it.
Miles sighed. “I’ll go first.” He turned to each of the guys as he spoke, making eye contact as he went. “Lexie pointed it out to me after the first meeting here, that I really hadn’t thought about it myself. I was too busy worrying about all of us. And when I started thinking about it, I thought I couldn’t agree to all of us being with her. There was no way.” He turned to Ethan. “Then I realized that Ethan shares something with Lexie that I don’t.” He turned to the group. “I don’t understand art. But they do. Ethan understands that part of her that I don’t. That I can’t.”
“You always did hate anything to do with art.” Ethan shifted in his chair.
Miles smiled. “Then I thought about the rest of you.” He turned to each one. “Asher always sees the good in people. Isaac likes to push his boundaries and try new things. Zeke, she understands your rage better than any of us can.”
My eyes stung.
“The fact is, that all of us share something unique with Lexie.” He started tapping his thigh again. “And once I thought of it that way, then I realized I could work with the group dating option.”
Heads snapped as they turned to Miles. Miles’ ears tinted pink as he sat down. Zeke looked as if someone had hit him in the back of the head with a board. Silence fell.
Eventually, Ethan leaned forward, getting everyone’s attention. “Look, I didn’t have some epiphany. I just suck at relationships.” He gestured to the others. “You guys have seen it.”
They all agreed.
“And to be honest, I’d rather have part of her than none.” Ethan met my gaze. A warm smile spread across my face.
“So, that’s my vote.” Ethan shrugged.
Asher shifted in his seat. “A couple of days ago, my life was normal. At least, I thought so.” His eyes were unfocused on the ground. “At the beginning of the trip, I never would have even thought about this.”
“What about today?” Miles watched him carefully.
“Today, I’m a werewolf who will be lea
ving town for a month.” His eyes met mine. “I’m not normal. And that’s going to be an adjustment. So, why should I have a normal relationship? I vote for group dating.”
My pulse raced in my throat. Was this really happening? He changed his mind…
Isaac leaned forward and sighed. “This is crazy.” He met my eyes. “I have huge issues and that’s not surprising to any of you. I’m pretty sure I’m going to try to fuck everything up several times before I get the hang of this. But… I’m willing to work on my shit.” His eyes met mine. “If this is what it takes to make Lexie happy…. I’m in.”
Zeke looked at all of them as if they had lost their minds. He got to his feet and met my eyes. “I need a word with you. Now.”
Leaving Hades with the guys, I followed him down the trail all the way to the picnic bench.
He turned on me, his eyes glowing. “Tell me you’re not going to fucking do this?”
I sighed. “Why wouldn’t I?”
“Because! You…” He ran his hand through his hair. His wild eyes met mine. “More than anything, I never want you to feel used. To feel like you’re an object. I’d kill to keep that from happening. To be passed around…”
My heart ached. “Zeke.” I stepped closer and pressed my hands against his chest. “Would they ever do that? They’re our best friends. Would they ever do that?”
A muscled ticked in his jaw. “No. But that doesn’t mean you won’t feel that way.”
“Now, the biggest question.” I shook my head. “Would I ever let someone treat me that way? Put up with someone who made me feel that way?”
He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “No.”
“So, what kind of situation are we really looking at?” I asked carefully.
“All of us dating you isn’t going to happen.” Zeke look me straight in the eyes.
“You really didn’t even think about it. Did you?” My heart sunk as my stomach bottomed out.
He shook his head.
“You said you would.” I stepped back from him. “The first night here, all of us talked about it and you agreed to think about it. Then yesterday.”
“I didn’t think you were crazy enough to try it.” He ran his hand through his hair.
I couldn’t believe him. A heavy weight filled my chest as I looked up at him. “Zeke, I care about all of you. How did you expect me to choose one of you?”
“Because that’s how it’s supposed to work.” He gestured at nothing.
“Who says that’s the way it’s supposed to go?”
“Everyone!” His voice echoed off the trees.
I suddenly realized how tired I was. Tired of trying to be something I wasn’t. Tired of pretending for everyone else. “Zeke. I’m not normal. I’m never going to be normal.” My voice was quiet and steady. “And I’m trying to be okay with that. It sucks once in a while but not everything is puppies and rainbows all the time.”
“I know,” he said. “But if we did this, what do you think people are going to think?”
“What?” Who gave a fuck about other people and what they thought?
“Jessica has already trashed your reputation at school. If you start dating five guys at once, they’re going to think she’s right.” He shook his head. “Last year was bad enough with the harassment toward you. Do you really want to go through another year of that and worse?”
“That’s why you wanted me to choose?” My voice grew louder and sharper. “Because you’re worried about what other people will think of me?”
“Lexie.” He stepped closer. “I don’t give a fuck what people think. But I do give a fuck about how they treat you. This is something you need to think about. If you did this, there will be repercussions and you might not pay for them alone.”
“What do you mean?”
He cursed. “You will get more shit at school, all of us might and that’ll put pressure on everybody, which will make having that kind of relationship that much harder.”
I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “You’re right. There are social repercussions that all of us would have to deal with. And they might make things harder.” I swallowed hard as I tried to explain how I felt. “But I’d rather face it together than live my life regretting that we didn’t try because it was out of the ordinary. Because it was scary, and crazy.”
“Lexie…”
“I can’t choose.” I looked up at him. “I just can’t.” My heat beat pounded in my ears, filling the silence.
Shadows moved through his eyes. “I don’t think I can do what you’re asking.”
My heart shattered. Tears filled my eyes as I struggled to breathe. “You can’t?”
He shook his head.
Tears fell down my face as I looked down at the ground. I took deep breaths. I knew it was useless to hope… “Okay.” I wiped my face as I looked at his chest. “I just… Before this is over, I just… I need you to know...” I lifted my eyes to his with my world crashing around me. “I love you. And I… never meant for any of this to happen.”
His face was blank and hard as stone as I stepped back. “I’ll go tell the others.” Wiping my face again, I turned and hurried down the path. The weight on my chest was crushing. Making my breathing ragged. It was over. I’d be with none of them. Why did I get my hopes up? Why did I even think this would work? It never would have worked anyway… What was I thinking? There’s no happily ever after in real life. When did I forget that?
When I made it back, the guys were standing in a circle. They examined my face. Miles’ eyes grew cold. They didn’t even have to ask. Zeke’s answer was clear on my face.
“He’s out,” I rasped.
The guys nodded.
“So, that means…” Isaac turned to Miles.
“She’ll date nobody.” Miles confirmed.
Everyone struggled with their emotions. The silence was heart wrenching. What were we going to do now? With everything between all of us, how do we go back?
Miles cleared his throat. “Then we should start to head home…”
Zeke walked off the trail and up to the circle. “I need to talk to you guys alone.” His voice was so sharp it made me jump. He looked down at me. “Take Hades and go back down the trail.”
I didn’t argue. I was too busy wiping tears from my face as I left the group. Zeke was probably going to yell, lecture… call them idiots for even thinking of trying this. It didn’t matter.
I sat on the picnic table in misery. What the hell was I going to do now? I could try to avoid them for a while, at least until school started. Make sure I’m not alone with anyone… A fresh wave of tears ran down my face. God, I was so stupid. I should have said something. I should never have kissed any of them. Why did I ruin everything? Misery took up a home in my heart and I wondered if she’d become a permanent tenant.
I don’t know how long I sat there. At least an hour for sure, but I didn’t even want to bother to check my phone. I was scratching Hades’ ears when he barked. The guys walked around the bend in the trail. Every face was somber, every set of eyes shadowed. And this is where they’ll tell me that I need to give them space. I braced myself for it.
“Lexie, we’ve been talking.” Miles stepped forward, tapping his fingers on his thigh.
“You guys need space, right?” I tried to keep my voice from cracking. It didn’t work.
Miles took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Lexie, w-will you be our girlfriend?”
My heart leapt in my chest. Did he… did he just say? “Girlfriend?”
Miles’ cheeks tinted pink as he grinned. “Will you go out with us?” He gestured at the others who were standing just as awkwardly as he was.
A big happy, stupid smile spread across my face. “Hell, yeah.”
Epilogue
I looked up at Asher and fought back tears. “I’m going to miss you.”
His fingers squeezed mine. “I’m going to miss you too. But I have to go.”
“I know, it just sucks
.”
“You have four other boyfriends to keep you company,” he muttered.
“Not until you get back,” I reminded him. “We agreed, no individual dates until you come home.”
He frowned. “That’s not really fair to you guys.”
“But it’s fair to you and we agreed.” I stepped closer and looked up at those beautiful eyes. “Now, you better hug me. Because you’re about to leave for a month.”
He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me into his arms. I took a deep breath of cinnamon and vanilla.
“Promise me that you’ll stay safe.” His lips brushed my ear.
I closed my eyes and tried to memorize his touch. “Only if you promise me the same.”
He kissed the top of my hair. “I promise.”
“Then I promise too.” I lifted my chin and met his eyes. “I’ll talk to you tonight?”
He nodded, his eyes rough. “And every night until I get home.”
My eyes burned as I went up on my toes and brushed my lips against his.
Astrid cleared her throat.
Asher pulled back, regret filling his eyes. “I can’t…”
My heart ached. “Then you better go. The sooner you go, the sooner you come back.”
He leaned down and kissed my temple. “I love you.”
I smiled. “I love you too.”
He stepped back from me, picked up his duffle and got into the car with Ranulf and Astrid.
A month. I could do a month. Right?
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When the Dead Have It Easy Page 34