I found the wall with my forehead. “Wall,” I coughed.
“Find the window,” Asher answered. We both ran our hands over the wall.
My heart was pounding in my ears as my fingers found glass. “Got it.” I tried the latches but they were stuck. “Shit!”
“I’ll try.” Asher moved between me and the window. I kept my hand on his shoulder so I didn’t get lost. He grunted and coughed. It was getting bad up here and the window was stuck. We were going to die.
“Break the glass!” Both voices ordered in unison. Asher moved away from me, glass shattered.
Air rushed past me along with smoke. I could finally see some moonlight. Asher reached down for me and helped me climb through the window to the fire escape. I got out of the way of the smoke streaming from the window so Asher could get out.
I kept coughing as I hurried to the other end with Asher one step behind me. Smoke billowed out of the windows below. And we couldn’t tell how far down the smoke went. Oh fuck. I met Asher’s gaze and swallowed hard. Adrenaline surged, pushing the gut-wrenching panic back.
We had to go down the fire escape. We didn’t have a choice. I cursed, pulled my shirt over my nose and mouth again then hurried down the ladder. Immediately, I couldn’t see anything. I managed to find the rail and used it to find my way over to the next ladder. “Ash?” I called then started coughing.
“He’s right behind you, Lexie. Keep moving,” Louis’s voice ordered. I tried to find the rail again and came up with nothing.
“A little more to your right,” Louis instructed. I grabbed hot metal and followed it. It was getting really hard to breath. I held my breath as I climbed down the ladder to fresher air. I took big gulping breaths and hurried to the other end of the fire escape.
We hustled down to the second floor. I managed to get the rusted latch to drop the ladder just as Asher dropped to the fire escape floor.
“You okay?” I called but Asher was already getting up and rushing to me. I started climbing down the ladder.
When I was almost halfway down, hands dug into my waist and took me off the ladder. I didn’t care, I was coughing again as strong arms carried me away from the building then set me down and let go. I bent over and started having a strange dry heaving and coughing fit. A hand ran down my hair to the middle of my back. I looked up to see who it was but no one was there.
Isaac ran toward me. His face was sweating and covered in soot. “Are you okay?”
I coughed and nodded.
He turned his head and shouted. “We got ‘em!”
Miles and Ethan ran around the building as Zeke put Asher’s arm around his shoulders and practically carried him at a jog toward us. Isaac rushed to help. A flash of lightning caught my eye. I turned, the witches and shapeshifters were in an all-out brawl. Fireballs flew, ice slammed into people, blasts of energy threw others. Roars sounded from something large and with teeth. A flash of orange moved through the chaos. Someone screamed. It was a battlefield of magic and claws. The sound alone made me shake.
Uma broke free of the battlefield and waved for us to go. “Get her out of here! They’re here for her! Go!”
Miles just picked me up and ran toward the SUV.
“Who has the keys?” Ethan shouted from beside us.
“Zeke!” Miles called back as a fireball shot over our heads and nailed one of the safe-house’s SUVs. Fire engulfed the vehicle, turning it into an inferno in a heartbeat. Everyone kept running. When we reached the car, Miles passed me to Ethan. Ethan pulled me into the back as the others climbed in.
Zeke started the engine and gunned it before we even got the doors closed. “Get your heads down!”
Ethan shoved me flat to the seat, his body pressing down on mine.
Glass shattered and sprayed over us a heartbeat before Zeke jumped the curb and hauled ass away from the area.
“Okay, you guys can sit up now,” Zeke announced when we were several blocks away. Everyone sat up straight.
I looked at the others. Stunned. “Holy shit.”
Epilogue
We were sitting in the private hangar with Miles’ plane as the pilots rushed through the preflight check list. Miles wanted us to leave the city immediately, he didn’t trust that the Witches Council wouldn’t find us here. Neither did I.
Asher and I had finally stopped dry heaving and coughing. The pain in my lungs eased and I was able to take a deep breath again.
“What happened?” I had to ask, we were dead asleep and then…
“The Witches Council found the safehouse.” Miles turned to me. “Though our witches gave them a surprise with the vampires and werewolves.”
“Yeah, they poured out of that building like pissed off bees,” Ethan said. “They joined the vampires and pushed them back.”
“By the way, never piss off Uma. That witch can throw down,” Isaac warned us.
My heart ached. Uma, Savannah…the kids… “Louis is dead.”
Everyone but Miles and Asher cursed.
“Lexie,” Miles got my attention. “He’s not the only one. No one on the fifth floor made it out. It’s a miracle that you two did.”
“How did you guys get out?” Isaac asked, shifting his feet.
My eyes met Asher’s. He nodded slightly.
I turned back to them. “After the first couple of hits, we went to Louis’s room and found him…” I cleared my throat and took a deep breath.
“There was nothing we could do. When we went back into the hall, we couldn’t see anything,” Asher continued for me. “We got under the smoke and crawled to the stairs. That’s when we heard him the first time.”
“Heard who?” Zeke asked as he stepped closer to the rest of us.
“My dad,” I croaked. The stunned looks on their faces were priceless. “We heard him, clear as day.”
“Shit,” Ethan muttered.
“He said to go up, that the floor below us was on fire,” I explained. “When I froze because, well, it was his voice. He told us the floor was going to buckle and to move our asses.”
“He was a fireman,” Miles thought out loud. “If anyone would know what was happening in there, it would be him.”
“Once we got up to the seventh floor, the stairs and the sixth floor collapsed.” I turned to Asher. “Then we heard another voice.”
Asher swallowed hard and looked up at the guys. “It was Mom.” The silence was thick as he continued. “She was using that drill sergeant voice she always used to get our attention.”
The guys chuckled, the twins even grinned.
“I remember that voice,” Isaac said. “Always scared the shit outta me.”
“She told us how to get to the window,” I coughed again but it was a small one this time.
“They got us out of the building, then Louis showed up and got us through the smoke on the sixth, fifth and fourth floors.” Asher finished for me.
“We’re just happy you guys are alive,” Miles stated. The others nodded in agreement.
Zeke sent Miles a look. Miles sent one back.
“Tell them the rest,” Zeke growled.
Miles hesitated.
“Miles?” I said. He turned to me. “No more secrets.”
“After finding the stairs to fourth floor were blocked, we went outside,” Miles began. “Our side of the fight wasn’t doing well.”
“Then something was streaking through the fight,” Zeke continued. “Faster than we could see, they were a blur. When the streak went by, someone dropped to the ground dead. And it wasn’t the people on our side.”
“What was it?” I asked. “A vampire?”
Miles shrugged. “We don’t know. No one ever got a good enough look to identify it.”
“We split up and were trying to get to the fire escapes to see if there was a way up to you two.” Zeke drew my attention. “That’s when we saw you being taken off the fire escape ladder by someone we didn’t recognize.”
I leaned forward. “I didn’t see him. I th
ought it was one of you guys. But when I looked up, I only saw Isaac running toward me.”
Miles and Zeke shared a look.
Zeke turned back to me. “That’s because he took off. He left in a blur.”
The blood drained from my face. “You’re saying the person who killed a bunch of people... took me off the ladder?”
“Yeah,” Zeke said in his usual direct way. “And no one knows what or who it was.”
I closed my eyes. The Witch’s Council attacking, human experimentation, Louis was dead and now a speeding blur that no one could see. I had enough. “You know what… no.”
Zeke shared a look with Miles before turning back to me. “What?”
“I’m not dealing with this,” I snapped. “We have enough going on with everyone and we can only deal with what’s in front of us.”
“Alright,” Miles said carefully.
I rubbed my temple, my head starting to pound. “We gotta figure all of us out before anything else.” I met each of their eyes. “Everything else can wait.”
“Everyone should take some time and figure out what they want,” Miles suggested.
“Agreed,” Zeke muttered.
“And consider all our options,” Miles said, holding eye contact with me. “Even the unorthodox ones.”
“Don’t push it, Miles,” Isaac growled. “She said no.”
I didn’t even know what I said anymore. The pilot called for us to board. Everyone got on the plane, and since there was no luggage it wasn’t long before we taxied to the runway.
Everything was a jumble in my head as the sunlight peaked over the airport. People were dead because the Witches Council seemed to be making a power play and not caring about who they hurt in the process. Rage burned in my heart. For those kids, for the innocent people they killed, for Luca’s family. They had to be stopped.
I was pressed back in my seat as the plane accelerated. Looking out the window I watched as several black SUVs sped toward the private section. They broke through the barrier and sped toward the hangar. That solid feeling filled my chest.
They knew my name. Where we lived. They would come for us. And they’d regret it. My eyes moved over each of the guys. Zeke was gripping the chair’s arms with white knuckles. Miles had his thinking face on. Isaac closed his eyes, trying to sleep. Asher was texting someone, probably his sister that we were coming home. And Ethan was looking out the window with haunted unfocused eyes.
Jadis had asked me what I would be willing to do for them. To keep them safe. I didn’t have an answer then. But I did now. I’d not only let the world burn, I’d light the damn fires myself.
Zeke
My phone rang. I wiped the grease off on my handkerchief before picking it up. It was Lexie. I hesitated but let it go to voicemail. I set it back on the garage floor and went back to working on the motorcycle engine.
It had been almost a week since we got back from New Orleans. Almost a week where I didn’t see her or speak to her. It was a break to get some perspective and think. Which worked. I needed to step back and watch Lexie date one of the others. Any one of them would be better for her than me. They all cared about her. Even Asher. I snorted as I finished loosening a bolt and pulled off the air filter. Asher knew I had a thing for her, yet he still had the balls to kiss her. My lips twitched. To be honest, I was glad he did. He always hesitated to say what he wanted. For once he didn’t.
Taking some time and getting some perspective worked great. Until I broke down every night and listened to my voicemail. The second I heard the worry in her voice or the anger because she knew I was avoiding her, all that resolve and perspective crumbled into dust. And I’d start all over again the next day.
It wasn’t up to me. She had to choose one of us. Didn’t she? Miles’ suggestion rolled through my mind again. All of us dating her…. Was it even possible? I tried to imagine how that would even work and couldn’t. Just thinking about one of them kissing her… I started cursing under my breath as I started to loosen the bolts holding the carburetor. I should let go of the idea. I should just let go of her. My chest burned deeply at the very thought. I was just going to have to get used to it. Rage flashed through me, I threw the wrench in my hand across the garage.
Asher
I kneaded the dough. It had been a week since we got back and I couldn’t seem to stop cooking. Everyone had gotten several bags of cookies already this week. And by the looks of it, the same was going to happen with fresh bread.
She was in love with all of us. All of us. And she wasn’t going to tell anyone. Hell, she only told me by accident. She was going to have to choose and it would break her heart. I stopped kneading. If she chose. Miles’ idea had some merit, everyone would have time with her, everyone would be happy, at least a little. I shook my head. She’d never go for that. She wasn’t like that. She didn’t fool around. Hell, she might even still be…
I pushed the thought from my head and focused on kneading the dough. It wasn’t normal. Five guys dating one girl. That’s what it came down to. Besides, could I watch her with someone else? The idea alone was like a kick to the gut. I couldn’t do it.
But I might have to anyway. I stopped kneading. If she didn’t pick me, I’d have to see it anyway. My shoulders grew tense as I got back to work. I guess I had to ask myself what I wanted… I wanted Ally, there was no doubt about it. But what was I willing to give up to have her? My heart sank as I went around and around in my head.
The front door slammed open.
“Knock it the fuck off, Jessica.” Jason’s voice echoed from the foyer. “I’m getting tired of your shit.”
“You’re the one who’s fucking around!” Jess shouted. The tears in her voice had me taking off my apron and moving toward the kitchen door.
“I told you nothing fucking happened,” Jason bit out as he looked up at the stairs. Jess must be on the steps.
“Yeah, and where did that fucking hickey come from?” she snapped. “A vacuum? ‘Cause it wasn’t me!”
Jason’s face was hard, his eyes furious. “Jessica. Get your fat ass down here. We are going to the movies with Brandon and that bitch he’s trying to bang.”
I stepped into the hallway and moved toward the foyer as anger rolled over me. Jess wasn’t going anywhere with someone who treated her like that.
“No. I’m staying home,” Jess’s voice cracked. “Get out.”
Jason reached up and grabbed her wrist. “You’re going!”
I knocked his hand off my sister and pushed him away from the stairs. “If you ever fucking touch my sister like that again, you won’t live long enough to regret it.”
Jason got in my face but I wasn’t going anywhere. “Stay out of it.”
“Asher…”
“Am I in any way unclear?” I demanded in a loud, hard voice. My fists shook as the urge to hit him surged through me.
“I got it,” Jason growled.
“Good.” I grabbed him by the shirt and dragged him out the door and to the steps. I threw the piece of shit off the porch. He landed in a big cursing heap on the walkway. I waited as he dragged his sorry ass up and headed for his car.
When he drove off, I went back inside and shut the door behind me. I made sure to lock it before turning to Jess.
She was sitting on the steps, tears running down her face. Her arms wrapped around her as if she was hugging herself.
Not knowing what to do, I sat down on the step beside her and put my hand on her back. “No one should ever treat you that way.” I swallowed my rage as I tried to make her understand. “You deserve better than that.”
She started to cry harder, her shoulders shaking. I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her to my chest. Her arms moved around my neck as she hugged me for the first time in over a year. My eyes burned as I squeezed her back.
“Can…can you brush my hair?” she whispered, her voice cracking. “Please?”
Something was wrong. Something was very, very wrong. “Of course.”
/> Isaac
I barely aired out of the bowl, leveled out and landed my board on the cement at the skate park. Shit! I was having a crappy boarding day. I couldn’t seem to manage anything. The whole thing with Lexie kept popping into my head. I rode further down the sidewalk and away from the park. I was done for the day. At this rate, I’ll break something soon. Which I wouldn’t have minded a month ago, but it would upset Lexie.
My phone beeped. I stopped and picked up my board so I could check it.
Red: Got news about NOLA when you have a chance.
I closed my eyes and sighed. I’d been talking to her every night since we got home, but it was never about what I really wanted to talk about. Us.
We both were tiptoeing around that. The entire thing was a mess but I wasn’t going anywhere. I was in this for the long haul. I called her back as I walked away from the path toward the one tree in the park.
“Hey, I didn’t mean stop skating.” Her sweet voice chided.
“I’m done for the day. I had a couple of slams in the bowl and too many bails. I’m stopping before I kill myself,” I grumbled.
“Slams, slams… Hard falls?” she asked, her voice uncertain.
I smiled. “Yeah.”
“See, I’m learning,” she said, her smile clear in her voice. “Are you okay?”
“Just a few cuts and scrapes,” I said as I sat down under the tree. “What’s going on?”
“I heard from Uma,” she sighed. “The gargoyles sent a team down to deal with the Witches Council’s people, only they disappeared before they managed to get there.”
I frowned. “They gave up New Orleans?”
“Uma said they seemed to,” she said. “Evelyn questioned the head of the Witches Council to within an inch of her life. And she knew nothing of what was happening.”
“Norms died down there, doesn’t that mean the gargoyles can come in?” I barely remembered something about a treaty…
Secrets From the Grave (The Veil Diaries Book 6) Page 32