“Everyone okay?” Zeke demanded. There were several yeses and yeahs.
“Why the hell did you guys yank us out of there?” Travis demanded. Asher started making something up. Zeke stepped between me and the building. I looked up.
“Lexie? You alright?” he asked. I nodded quickly several times as I reached up and wiped some dust off my neck with a trembling hand.
Frowning, Zeke reached out, his hands cradled my face gently, forcing me to keep meeting his eyes. His hands were warm on my skin.
“Lexie, what did you see?” he whispered.
I swallowed hard. “I don’t know,” I whispered back. “But it was bad. Really bad.”
“If that was true, then why is she white as a sheet?” Travis demanded. The scent of limes and spice mixed with the scent of engine grease as Zeke let go of my face. His large hands moving to my shoulders, the weight comforting.
“She probably has low blood sugar right now,” Asher offered. “She didn’t eat much at dinner.”
Keith eyed me.
“Bullshit. She saw something,” Travis declared.
“Something we didn’t see. Not until we were already moving…” Keith seemed to be thinking out loud.
“Ethan, get her in the car,” Zeke ordered. Ethan wrapped his arm around me and started walking me back to the Jeep.
Travis came toward me. “What did you see?” Isaac moved to intercept. Zeke moved with Ethan to get me in the Jeep.
Isaac held his hands up and gave him a charming smile. “Man, she just has low blood sugar, diabetes runs in the family.”
“I don’t buy that,” Keith announced before pointing at Ethan. “Because you said, ‘I can see it now.’ Then you were hauling us out of there.” Travis moved around Isaac and headed straight for us. Zeke moved between us.
“Are you psychic?” Travis demanded, a light sparkled in his eye. Zeke blocked his view of me. I sat down in the Jeep. Ethan stayed in the door, he leaned over me then handed me my water bottle. I took a sip.
“She has low blood sugar and a seizure disorder,” Zeke growled. “That’s it. Now leave her the fuck alone.”
Keith came over and grabbed his friend’s arm. “Come on man, we got enough footage for tonight.” They both began to walk away.
Everyone stayed put until they drove off. There was a collective sigh of relief.
“What did you see in there, Beautiful?” Ethan asked gently. The others gathered around the open door.
“When I got back from helping the ghost cross, I got this really bad feeling,” I explained. “A solid black figure walked into the hall from the other wing. That’s when I told Asher we needed to go the first time.”
“The first time?” Isaac asked.
“She whispered it so those guys wouldn’t hear,” Asher explained. Isaac nodded.
“It watched me, I watched it. And it felt…” I swallowed hard. “It felt… it felt evil and hungry. It scared the shit out of me. So, when another one walked into the hall and started coming towards us I just yelled run,” I admitted.
“She asked if I could see anything, and I couldn’t.” Ethan offered. “Until right before we ran.”
“But, what were they?” Isaac asked.
“I have no fucking clue,” I admitted. “I’d never seen anything like it in my life.” The silence was thick as everyone absorbed that.
“Get in, we’re out of here,” Zeke ordered. I was happy to scoot over so Ethan and Asher could get in beside me.
We were halfway back to town when Zeke broke the silence. “Lexie, do you want to stay at Miles’ tonight?”
“I can’t. Hades is at home and I need to figure out what those things were.” I replied.
Isaac held up his phone. “It sounds like shadow people,” he announced. I raised an eyebrow. He continued to read from his phone. “Thought to be an entity from a separate dimension, demon or ghost; most, if not all, are parasitic,” he looked back to me. “That sound about right?”
I gave him a small smile and nodded. “Yeah, that feels right.”
When Zeke pulled up to my house, I was still a bit out of it. Asher slid out of the Jeep. When I climbed out I stumbled, Asher caught me with an arm, then made me meet his eyes.
“Ally?”
“I’m fine,” I said instantly. “Just, a little off balance.”
Turning to the house, I shuddered. I really hated the front of this house.
Asher took my arm and walked me to the door. I didn’t really need to hold on to him, but I wanted to, so I didn’t complain. I walked into the house and turned back to him. His worried eyes ran over me.
“You sure you’re okay?” he asked quietly.
I nodded.
He frowned even more. “If you need to talk, call me, alright?”
I nodded again.
“Night, Ally girl.”
“Night.” I locked the door behind him and turned on the alarm. I was feeling numb as I turned to find Hades on the couch.
“How’d it go?” Rory asked as he walked into the living room area with a beer bottle in his hand. I met his eyes. His smile disappeared. “Lexie?”
“Where’s Tara?” I asked immediately. Rory put the bottle on the end table and strode over to me.
“She’s at a friend’s house tonight,” he answered. He lifted my chin and checked my eyes. “What happened?”
“I just saw something I’ve never seen before.” I began. “And it was scary as hell.” Rory pulled me into his arms, I held on tight.
“What did you see?” he asked gently. I explained what happened as he let go and we moved to sit down. The numbness slowly ebbed away as I spoke.
Eventually, when I was responding enough to his questions, he went into the kitchen. When he came back, he handed me a mug of hot chocolate with marshmallows. It made me smile. He sat down on the couch and leaned forward with his elbows on his legs.
“Now, Kid, didn’t Serena say you were going to be seeing more things as you got stronger?”
I nodded absently. “Yeah, she said I’ll see stuff then need to figure out what it is.”
Rory raised an eyebrow. “You’ve been dealing with groups of dead people since March. You’re crossing them in groups still, right?”
“Yeah?” I didn’t see where he was going with this.
“Kid, you are way beyond what any of our family has known,” he explained. “Before you came here, I had never heard of the Veil. Or that there was a way to cross souls. Hell, I didn’t even know that you could. From family stories, the girls always had extreme trouble dealing with it. And they…”
“They all died before they turned thirty.” I finished for him.
His mouth pressed into a tight line. “Yeah. But Kid, you’re ahead of the curve here. You have Serena to call and ask when something like this happens. You have the guys out there who know how to help if you get jumped. You have an enormous advantage over every generation of women that came before you. And you don’t go down without a fight.” I sighed. It felt that way a lot lately. And I was sick of it.
“I just wish there was a manual. An Idiot's Guide to Necromancy,” I admitted with a grin.
He smiled. “Maybe you’ll write one. For your future kids.”
I snorted and shook my head. “Oh no. No kids for me. I’m not passing this shit on,” I stated adamantly. His smile turned sad.
“Wait till you’re at least twenty-five before you make that decision,” he advised. “See how things are then.” The air took on a heavy weight with the elephant in the room. Tara, she was obviously going to live a long life.
“A manual, huh.” I thought about it. It wouldn’t be a bad idea. I wonder… “Rory, do you think that any of the women in our family could have written down what they knew already?”
Rory’s eyes were thoughtful. “Maybe. I could find your grandfather. He still has all the family stuff.” His eyes focused again on me. Grandfather? I’d never heard Rory talk about him before, not really. “I’ll see what I c
an do. But for now, go get some rest.”
I nodded before heading upstairs with Hades. I changed into my jammies, and laid down, nudging Hades toward the edge of the bed. The bugger had started taking the outside of the bed after I came home from the hospital in January. I hadn’t minded then, but now he took most of my bed.
I quickly called Serena and got her voicemail. I explained what happened and asked her to call me back. I needed to know what those things were…
I was still laying there looking up at the ceiling, dreading going to sleep, when my phone vibrated on my desk. I reached over a sleeping Hades and checked my texts.
Miles: I heard about tonight. Are you alright?
I smiled to myself. Of course the guys told Miles.
Alexis: Yeah, just spooked.
Miles: Are you sure?
I looked up at the shadows moving over the ceiling. Was I okay? I was getting tired of that question. Tired of asking myself over and over.
Alexis: I’ll survive. Can’t sleep?
Miles: As usual. Sweet dreams.
Alexis: Night.
Chapter 5
Sunday Morning
The hand on my shirt dragged me through the snow. I didn’t want to go. I fought his hold until he pulled me in front of him, his hand on my throat, squeezing.
“In time, you’ll see. Our marriage will be perfect. Our children will be beautiful,” he said confidently. Rich musky cologne was thick on my tongue.
“Planning to rape me?” I snapped through my teeth. His free hand moved…
I jerked awake, biting back a scream. I was still gasping when I recognized my room.
Feeling Clay’s hands, smelling his cologne, I got out of bed and started pacing. My heart slammed in my chest as I ran my hands through my hair. It’s April. I’m at home. Clay Ordin is in jail. Isaac beat the shit out of him. I’m safe. I don’t need a shower. I kept pacing in front of an anxious Hades until I realized what was happening. I was having a panic attack. I needed to do something.
Hands shaking, I changed out of my jammies then hurried down stairs. I needed to do something, anything. I could cook breakfast… I walked into the kitchen and began pulling out pots and pans. I needed… I needed…. Shit! What did I need? Asher would know… Asher… yeah…
I left the kitchen, grabbed my keys from my hoodie and hurried outside. Hades trotted beside me as we went to the Blazer. It’s April. It’s morning… I ran over it again and again until I pulled up in front of Asher’s house. Sunlight barely peeked over the mountains, warming the ground causing fog to rise. My pulse was pounding in my ears as I turned off the truck and climbed out. Hades pressed against my thigh as I went up the front steps and tried the door. It didn’t budge. Why wasn’t it unlocked? Asher usually left it that way when he was home…
Still dazed, I unlocked the door. Asher would probably be in the kitchen… it was morning so that’s where he’d be… I headed for the kitchen with Hades still pressed against my thigh the whole time. I didn’t mind, it was comforting. The kitchen was empty… Where was he? My mind raced around in frantic circles as I looked out the window and watched the fog rise off the grass. I was so lost in my mind that I didn’t hear anyone come down stairs.
“Ally?” I jumped. My heart skipped as I turned around. Asher came into the kitchen in a pair of Marvin the Martian PJ bottoms and a white tank undershirt. His hair was everywhere while he blinked at me. The world came back into sharp focus.
“Sorry, I… I didn’t mean to wake you up,” I said, feeling guilty. He stopped a foot from me. His eyes ran over me, growing worried.
“What’s wrong?” he asked gently. “Did you have a nightmare?” I looked down at Hades and nodded. I bit the corner of my lower lip as my eyes burned.
“It was the cabin. I started… I woke up and had a panic attack,” I admitted, looking up at him. “The doc said do stuff to stop it, to distract myself. I wanted to make breakfast and I couldn’t figure out what I needed so… I ended up here.”
Asher’s face softened. “Come here,” he said in that rich baritone that I loved. I stepped into his arms and rested my head on his chest. He held me tight, one hand cradling the back of my head. I took a deep breath and drew in vanilla and cinnamon, all the tension inside me easing a little.
“I didn’t mean to wake you up,” I said pitifully.
“You can wake me up anytime you need me,” he said softly.
I smiled into his shirt.
He gave me a squeeze before letting go. He kept one of my hands in his and gave me a tug. “Come upstairs, you might be able to catch a couple more hours of sleep.”
I nodded and followed him upstairs with Hades on my heels. Asher led me into his bedroom. His big double bed called to me with its slept-in white sheets and blue and orange striped comforter. I didn’t hesitate, I toed off my sneakers and climbed in. The bed dipped and moved as Asher got comfortable.
His arm wrapped around my waist as he tucked me into the curve of his body. I was half asleep when I remembered who else was here.
“What about your sister?” I muttered. Asher’s face was buried in my hair at the top of my head.
“She can go to hell,” he mumbled back. I smiled as I fell asleep in his arms.
* * *
An annoying humming woke me up. Groaning, I tried to move only to find I couldn’t. Something was heavy across my chest. I opened my eyes and looked down. A muscular forearm was between my breasts, the hand spread against my upper chest. Fingers brushing my collarbones. Hmm? Asher? Still half asleep, I held his hand as I felt him start to wake up.
Asher’s face rubbed against the back of my neck.
“I did it again, didn’t I?” he mumbled, his lips brushing my skin.
“Uh-huh,” I muttered as I tried to wake up. His fingers squeezed mine, I let go of his hand so he could pull his arm away from me. He rolled away.
“Sorry.” He did something to make the annoying vibrating stop.
“Don’t care.” I snuggled further under the covers to go back to sleep. The blankets were pulled off my head.
“If you want to get to Miles’ before the twins, we need to get going,” he told me.
I grumbled, rolled onto my back then opened my eyes to look up at him. He was on his elbow next to me, his other hand holding my blankets.
“Do I have to if I don’t want to?” I asked seriously. He snorted.
“Yeah,” he countered. His eyes narrowed on me. “Why did you want to meet with us before the twins got there?”
I sighed and met his eyes. “Sophie is ready to cross.”
“Shit.” He laid down on his back next to me, his shoulder touching mine. There was silence for a few minutes. “When does she want to go?”
“She was willing to wait to talk to the twins until after their cousins left.” I reached up and wiped gunk from my eyes. “I have to tell them when she breaks a guitar.”
“And you want to talk to us about how to tell them,” he surmised. He rubbed his hands against his face, hard. “Okay, coffee. We need coffee.” He dropped his hands and sat up on the side of the bed. I grumbled as I got out of the warm blankets and went in search of my shoes.
Hades simply lifted his head and watched. Apparently, he didn’t feel the need to abandon the comfy bed so soon. I found my shoes near the door and pulled them on. When I turned back to Asher, I froze.
He was by his dresser on the other side of the room, shirtless. My mouth grew dry as my gaze ran along the sculpted muscles of his shoulders, down his muscled back and dear Lord. He had two dimples near his butt, just above the waistline of his pajama bottoms. Damn. I swallowed hard and forced myself to turn around.
“Ash. You could have waited to change until I was out the door,” I pointed out.
He chuckled. “Jessica is downstairs. Do you really want to deal with her this morning?”
I started weighing my options. Stand in the same room while a hot as hell Asher changes and not look… or deal with his twin sister J
essica. Yeah, not much of a choice.
“I’ll take your sister,” I admitted. “I’ve got to take Hades out anyway.” I patted my leg.
Hades came to me instantly. I kept my back to Asher as I slipped into the hallway.
When the door was closed I let out a deep breath. Holy crap! That guy was… and his back… dimples! Come on Lexie, get it together. I moved downstairs slowly, hoping I could get outside before Jessica saw me. This was not the day to hope.
I was almost down the stairs when footsteps came from the kitchen.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” Jessica shouted. I sighed. I had to remind myself I made a choice. I stepped off the stairs to turn to Asher’s twin sister. She towered over me, her pretty face furious. Her mouth hanging open. She was wearing pink Hello Kitty pajamas with her sandy blond hair back in a ponytail. The whole image was rather funny.
“I came by early to talk to Ash-”
“Are you fucking my brother?” she shouted. I sighed.
“No, I’m not fucking your brother. I’m friends with your brother,” I reminded her patiently. She scowled at me as she looked at my hair and lack of makeup.
A door opened upstairs.
Jessica shot Asher a dirty look. “Are you bringing ho-bags into the house now?”
I shook my head and headed for the front door. There was no talking to Jessica, she hated me and there was nothing I could do to change her mind. And quite frankly there was nothing I wanted to do either.
Asher, however, had something to say. “Shut it, Jess!” Asher snapped. I turned at the door to watch him step off the last step. “I’m sick and tired of your issues with Ally,” he stated clearly, his face hard, his eyes bright. “She’s my friend and is welcome in this house at any time, day or night. You can ignore her, or you can treat her as a guest. But your screaming is over. I’m done with this bullshit.”
Asher stepped away from a gaping Jessica and came to the door. Stunned, I opened it and headed out with Hades.
Whispers From the Dead Page 7