“What was the effect of closing the Veil?” Louis asked as he leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest.
“The dead can’t cross; the energy level is building. Ghosts are stronger, have more energy and are starting to rot,” I summed up.
“The souls of the dead are absorbing that energy,” Louis pointed out. “They’re storing it and that is rotting them out.”
I realized what he was saying. “They’re sources of energy. Like batteries.”
He nodded. “I’ve been with Uma long enough to know that powering a complex spell or contraption takes a lot of energy. The spells usually are never the problem. It’s powering it that’s the challenge. The more energy a magic user can use, the higher their skill level.”
“So… whoever did this, wants to power something,” I said.
“And considering this person probably doesn’t have a lot of formal training, they might not realize what they’ve really done,” he explained as he moved to look out the window.
“Why do you think they don’t have a lot of training?” I asked. How the hell could he tell that?
“Because they almost destroyed the barriers and caused the apocalypse.” Louis turned around. “Uma told me after meeting you that it was one of the first things you learn if you’re working with dimensions. You don’t stop the energy from flowing.”
“So, no formal training,” I muttered. “Which makes sense there’s only….”
“Only what?” Louis asked.
“The only witch I know of back home is Serena.” I looked up and met his gaze. “She was supposed to help but… After a certain point I just got the run around and a death threat.”
Louis’s eyebrows went up. “That’s interesting. Though, if she is a formally trained witch, she has the training and knowledge to know the damage she’d cause.”
“That doesn’t mean she gives a fuck,” Zeke pointed out. “Some people just want to watch the world burn.”
Louis nodded. “That’s true. But I’d suggest you get more evidence before trying to accuse her. Some people just don’t want to get involved.”
I nodded. It was something to think about.
“The fact is, anyone can be your Veil closer. It’s not like there are signs that someone has worked with the Veil. At least, none we’ll recognize.”
“Okay, what are some signs that someone’s a witch or warlock?” I asked, if we could at least narrow down the suspects it’d help.
He pulled out his phone and texted someone. “Let’s get Uma in here. She can answer that better than I can.”
Chapter 18
July 17th, Tuesday Evening
Isaac
I didn’t bother knocking before I walked into Ethan’s room and pulled up short. Lexie was sitting with Ethan playing War with a deck of cards.
My heart pounded. I needed to this now. “Red, can you give us some time?”
She turned toward me and gave me an understanding smile. “No problem.” She got up and headed out the door.
I broke out into a sweat as I turned and stared at Ethan and Ethan stared at me. “We need to talk.”
“Yeah.” He leaned back against his pillows.
“Lexie.” I swallowed hard. “How do you feel about her?”
His eyes flashed at me. “How do you feel about her?”
“I asked you first.”
“How the fuck do you think I feel?” he snapped. “When have I ever competed with you for a girl? Whether I liked her or not?”
I grew still. “Who?”
“What?” He sighed, calming down.
“Who?” I swallowed hard. “Who did you like?”
Ethan looked down at the bed. “Mary and Cece.”
“Cece?” I bit out. I already knew about Mary. She had made damn sure I did when she broke up with me. But Cece?
Ethan nodded. “A year after you started liking her.”
“And you walked away?” I asked, not quite believing it. Ethan never walked away from a girl he liked.
Ethan nodded.
“Why?”
“Why the fuck do you think?” he scoffed. “You’re my brother. I wouldn’t do that to you.”
Stunned, I sat down on the end of the bed and looked down at the floor. He had walked away from girls for me… I never thought he’d walk away from any girl. My gut knotted. I couldn’t do that, even for him. If it was anyone else, but not her. “What did I say to you in Boulder?”
The silence stretched. “That thing told me how miserable you were. How much you wanted to die, how close you really wanted to get.” Ethan’s voice grew strained. “What it was like for you to watch Sophie die, and hold her body for over an hour.”
My lungs grew tight, my chest ached. I couldn’t say a word.
“How you hated me and wished I was the one who died.” Ethan took a deep breath.
“I never wanted you to die,” I countered without hesitation. He needed to understand that I never wanted that. “I wanted to switch places with her. It wasn’t fair. She was… and I’m… She didn’t deserve to die that way.”
“You never told me how she…” Ethan turned away from me, unable to meet my gaze.
“You didn’t want to know,” I said without thinking. “After the wreck you were just… gone.”
“I wasn’t the only one,” Ethan countered as he turned back. “But… I should have realized what losing her like that would do to you.”
“You threw yourself into your music, into the band.” I couldn’t seem to stop talking now. “You threw yourself into everything else as long as it kept you out of the house.”
“My entire life changed that day,” Ethan stated. “We lost her, I was in pain and on those fucking pain killers that had me spaced out… I suddenly couldn’t even fucking make it up the stairs. And you walked away with just a broken arm.”
I looked over my shoulder at him. “I held her while she drowned in her own blood. She grew cold in my arms. Believe me, I didn’t fucking walk away with just a broken arm.”
Ethan flinched. “Fuck…”
“Yeah.” I turned back around to look at the door Lexie had gone through. She was right, we needed to have this out. All of it. Now. “And ever since then, I look at you and can see the questions in your eyes. ‘Did he do enough? Did he try everything to save her?’”
“I know you did.”
The world paused. Everything stopped. “You do?” I asked, wanting to believe him.
“Fuck, Isaac,” he bit out. “I know you. You would have done everything you could to save her. I never doubted that.” I closed my eyes as his words hit me. My eyes burned as tears fell. Some ragged broken part of me got a piece back. I’d been without it so long, I’d forgotten it was missing.
“Then why did you…” I swallowed hard. “If you didn’t blame me, then why did you avoid me for so long?”
I turned on the bed to face him. Ethan was leaning back against the wall, looking up at the ceiling. Tears ran down his face. “I was deep in my own shit. Did Ma ever tell you why I stopped taking the opiates the first time?”
My heart stopped. “No.”
“Because I was so fucking depressed that I wanted to take them all at once and not wake up,” Ethan admitted, his voice thick.
No… “You wanted to kill yourself?”
Ethan nodded, his eyes still on the ceiling. “Yeah. You weren’t talking to me, Ma was still grieving for Sophie and… I was in a lot of pain, physically and emotionally. Everything had changed. I had gone from having a happy family to being completely miserable and alone.”
“What happened?” I asked through a tight throat. I couldn’t imagine living without him…
“Miles.” He dropped his gaze to meet mine. “He saw the signs, started coming over every day for a few hours to talk to me about my music.”
I snorted. Miles and music? Yeah, the guy could play instruments but there was no joy there for him. It was an exercise, that was it.
Ethan
grinned. “I know, right? He helped me realize that I could still do one thing that I loved. That as long as I was alive I had options. You die, you have none.”
“And that’s why you dove into music and the band,” I said as I realized how stupid we both were.
“Yeah.” Ethan shook his head and looked at me. “It didn’t help that you could still do everything I wanted to.”
“Why the hell do you think you got the car all the time?”
He shook his head. “We just stopped talking about the big shit.”
I nodded.
He sighed. “This needs to stop. What happened in Boulder?”
“That demon... it really fucked me up,” I finally admitted it out loud. “I started having the worst nightmares of my life. I watched her die. Then the next night, I watched myself put my hand over her face and smother her.” My eyes burned again as I met his gaze. “It made me believe I killed her. That I just hadn’t remembered it.”
“Fucking hell,” Ethan said, stunned. “Why didn't you talk to me?”
I scoffed. “All the reasons I said earlier plus...” I shook my head. “It was in my head all the time, telling me that you and Lexie... It fed every issue I have and made them worse.”
“What happened in Boulder?” he asked again.
I clenched my hands into fists and took a deep breath. “I was alone and in the dark. With only that thing talking to me. Taunting me, hurting me, telling me what a piece of shit I was.” I shook my head. “I couldn’t hear what was going on. I thought you guys had bailed on me.”
“We never left you alone,” he said, his voice thick. “One of us was always with you. We were trying to distract it from you.”
“I know that now.” I wiped my face. “I only ever heard Lexie, and Hades when he growled.”
“I wasn’t going to leave you,” he said in a quiet voice.
My chest burned. “I should have said something.”
“I should have too,” Ethan admitted. “I’m sorry, brother.”
“Me too, brother.” I turned and looked at the floor. “What happened while you were gone?”
“It’s a blur. All I remember is pain, needles and more pain,” he muttered.
I turned to the door, my heart aching. “What are we going to do about Lexie?”
Ethan turned to the door as well. “I’ll stay away.”
I eyed him. “You love her?”
He nodded. “You?”
I nodded.
“We’re fucked.” We said in unison.
Lexie
I was still sitting on the floor of the hallway an hour later. What the hell was I doing? Yeah, the twins were talking but… was I the biggest problem between them?
Wintergreen reached me before Miles even sat down beside me.
“I’m guessing the twins are talking,” he said.
I nodded, not taking my gaze off the door.
“Good,” he said. “The kids are off with as much of the pack as possible.”
“That’s good. This is no place for little kids,” I sighed.
“Uma’s staying. The kids and Savannah left with Juan,” he added. “They’ll meet up with Evie’s group.”
“He’ll be safer with them.” I leaned over and rested my head on his arm. “What am I doing?”
“What do you mean?” he asked in that silky-smooth voice.
“I don’t know what I’m doing,” I admitted, feeling lost. “I don’t even know what you want, what the others want. Hell, I don’t even know what I want.”
He reached down, his long fingers wrapped around the inside of my knee. “Do you really have to ask?”
I nodded, my cheek rubbing against his cotton shirt. “I’m giving up on subtlety.”
His fingers squeezed my thigh. “As a friend or a partner, I want you in my life.”
I reached up, wrapped my arm around his and hugged it to me.
“We’ll be fine. It’s just going to take time. Once you figure out how you feel,” he promised.
I sat up and leaned back against the wall. I didn’t want to think about having to choose. He squeezed my leg.
“Come on, it’s dinner time and the others are downstairs.” He got himself to his feet then reached down for me. I let him pull me to my feet.
We were walking down the stairs when the runed door opened. Samuel walked in leading a group of vampires. Louis followed with a boy around my age. That sensation ran over me, it had been awhile since I felt it. The feel of fingertips brushing over my skin. Dark short hair, olive skin and a tall lean build. He carried a small duffle over his shoulder. His head turned, coffee colored eyes met mine. Necro. Louis turned to speak to him then followed the newcomer’s gaze to me. Louis said something before walking to meet me at the foot of the stairs. The new Necro’s eyes held mine as I came down the rest of the stairs.
“Lexie, this is Luca,” Louis introduced us. “He’s the only surviving member of the Necromancer family in Italy.”
“Sorry about your family.” I didn’t know what else I could say.
“Thank you,” he said, his Italian accent was thick.
“Luca has had a long trip here and we were about to get something to eat,” Louis said. “Would you guys like to join us?”
“We were about to have dinner with the guys,” I warned, turning to Louis.
“That sounds like a plan,” Louis said as he gestured for us to lead the way.
We walked into the cafeteria and got in line. I kept feeling eyes on me as I picked out my supper. I didn’t turn, I had a hunch who it was. Luca began speaking to Louis in Italian. Louis answered in the same language. We led them to the table with the others. The guys were quiet as we reached the table. I sat down next to Asher and across from Miles. Louis sat beside me.
“Boys, this is Luca,” Louis introduced him. “He’s a Necro from Italy.”
Everyone’s head snapped up as they eyed Luca.
“These are my friends, Miles, Zeke and Asher. The twins are upstairs talking at the moment,” I said, not liking the way the boys were looking at Luca.
“Are they talking or fighting?” Asher asked as he ate.
“Talking.” I turned and looked up at him. “Isaac asked for them to be alone for a talk.”
That got Zeke’s attention. “They’re finally talking their shit out?”
I nodded since my mouth was full.
“Has the doctor cleared Ethan yet?” Asher asked, using his fork to move his food around.
“Not yet,” Miles answered. He set his fork down and turned to the others. “And as soon as he gets released, I think we should leave.”
Everyone stopped eating. I met his gaze. He didn’t mean just the boys. I gave him a slight nod. Ethan had been tortured, this entire trip had been a disaster. I wanted to go home.
“Seconded,” Zeke muttered.
“Third,” Asher said.
“Motion passed,” Miles said. “We’ll leave as soon as Ethan is cleared by the doctors.”
“I think that’s a good idea,” Louis said. “Even Luca will be leaving by tomorrow night. Too many Necros in one place is just inviting trouble.”
“What about you and Uma?” I asked.
“We’ll be staying for the long haul,” Louis said. “This is our home and we’re not giving it up.”
I hoped they’d win. I began playing with my food as Louis moved the conversation on to a lighter topic. I didn’t contribute much, mostly I was just tired. When I started adding a carrot and pea fence to my mashed potato fort, Zeke finally had enough. He tapped my tray and glared. I rolled my eyes and went back to eating. Through the rest of dinner, I felt Luca watching me here and there; mostly when the conversation lulled.
It was during one of those lulls that my phone rang. It was Rory.
“Hey, Rory.”
“Is there anything you want to tell me?” Rory’s voice was sharp. Oh, shit. He must have heard what was going on here.
“Yeah, let me get somewhere quieter.” I go
t up from the table. Miles raised an eyebrow, I mouthed Rory’s name and left the cafeteria. “There’s been some trouble-”
“Trouble?” he snapped. “I’d fucking say so. The Center for Disease Control is starting to talk about a quarantine for New Orleans!”
He really was pissed. “It’s not an actual illness.” I explained to him what was going on, everything I knew, hoping he would calm down. But when I finished, he wasn’t calmer.
“Ethan actually died. And not one of you contacted Maria or me?” Rory demanded.
My mouth went dry. I didn’t even think of it. “No, I guess not...”
“Alexis Luana Delaney. You are seventeen years old. You are in the middle of what looks like a war-zone and you have no business being there! Get your ass home now!”
I cringed. “I can’t. Ethan hasn’t been released by his doctor.”
“Get him released!”
“He’s about to be,” I finally snapped back. “The doctor is checking on him tomorrow and everyone is planning to leave as soon as possible after that.”
“So, you’ll be home tomorrow night?” Rory asked.
“Unless something stops us, yeah,” I hedged. I didn’t see what would stop us but I didn’t want to make a promise I didn’t know if I could keep.
“If something changes, you will call or you’ll never see the light of day again.” Rory warned. “Is that understood?”
“Yes, sir,” I muttered.
“Now, get this shit done and get back home,” Rory ordered before hanging up.
I sighed and tucked my phone into my pocket. Rory was seriously pissed. I couldn’t blame him, I really hadn’t been keeping him in the loop. I turned and looked at the cafeteria doorway. Deciding I have had enough for today, I headed upstairs to my room.
I rolled over and punched my pillow into shape. The fucking mattress was lumpy and the bed was too big. I sighed. Okay, maybe I was just used to sharing the bed lately.
When I had come upstairs to check on Ethan, Isaac said he was staying. That they had some things to work out still. Thankfully, Bella had already assigned me a room on the sixth floor.
Secrets From the Grave (The Veil Diaries Book 6) Page 27