When I was ready and had control again, I turned back to them. They waited patiently, watching me. “Okay, let’s go again.”
* * *
That night, after filling Rory in on the cemetery, dinner and my shower, I laid down on my bed after shoving Hades over.
I had to get back to the Veil to make an alarm. I had put it off long enough. I pushed everything else from my mind and took a deep, calming breath. It was time to get to work. I closed my eyes, focused and dropped down.
The Veil was its usual shell of itself. Okay, time to build an alarm. I crossed my arms over my chest. How the hell was I going to do that? I looked around the Veil for a clue. I eyed the foggy, thick walls then looked up at the Way. An idea sparked.
What if I put up an additional barrier to the Veil? If I kept it paper thin then they wouldn’t know it was even there. I liked the idea but what about the rest of the alarm? I tapped my fingers against my arm and tried to figure it out. I could make a string of will to the center and create an actual connection to an alarm there. But would it work? Only one way to find out.
I moved to the Veil’s east wall. I closed my eyes and dropped my barriers. The Veil’s energy moved through me. I visualized what I wanted to do then opened my eyes. I reached out my hand until I was almost touching the wall with my palm out and lowered my hand. My skin vibrated as energy moved through me, flowing down to the ground and up the wall until it barely touched the Way. To be sure, I gave the energy instructions.
“As time winds on, souls come and go. Allow all who would pass while letting me know,” I whispered as I began to move clockwise. The gold light moved with me as if I was moving a giant curtain on a stage. I was completely focused on what I was doing. I kept whispering the incantation, concentrating on what I needed.
As I hit the three-quarter mark, I started to sweat. This was a marathon with focus; I had never held it this long. By the time I reached the east wall again, I was breathing heavy. Okay, I got that done. And that was just the start. I moved to the center.
Now for the alarm. I grinned as an image came to mind. I closed my eyes and focused. I pictured a stone pillar, standing tall in the Veil with a huge fog horn at its top. Energy flowed through me as the ground shook. I opened my eyes, still holding that image, to watch a circular, gray stone pillar burst from the ground and stretch halfway to the Way. I let go of the image as a large white and red fog horn appeared on top. I took a deep breath and let it out.
Okay, next part. I turned to the west wall, then focused on what I needed. A thick line of energy appeared at the wall, floating in the air until it reached the foghorn. I willed it to attach. Then let the image go. It stayed where it was.
“Yes!” I raised my arm in victory, smiling from ear to ear. I quickly did the same for the other areas, eight lines in all.
Now, how to connect it to me? A line? That would work, but I won’t be here the whole time? What if I coupled that with an incantation? Huh, it was worth a shot. I conjured a line at the back of the foghorn then brought it to me.
Before I attached it, I said. “As is above, let it be so below. I bind this alarm to me. Mind, body, soul.” Then I attached the line to my chest. I let the image go and the line still remained. I stepped back, testing the give of the line. As I circled the Veil I felt nothing. No tug, no pain. I was starting to wonder if this would work. Well, there was one way to find out. I smirked.
“Zahur!” I shouted. “I need a sec!” It was only a few heartbeats before she popped into the Veil. The foghorn went off, we both covered our ears as my bones shook. She eyed me as we dropped our hands.
“Your alarm, I take it?” she asked.
“Pretty neat, huh?” I said, looking back up at the pillar.
“Definitely clever,” she admitted. I turned back to her.
“So, do you think this line will stay when I’m in the physical world?” I asked.
She eyed the line, then the connection, which required her to get more up close and personal than I liked. When she was done examining my connection she backed up.
“That’s solid. If anything enters the Veil, you’ll know it.” She smiled at me. “Good work.”
I made a dramatic bow. “Thank you!” She chuckled. Then raised her head, her face serious.
“I need to go,” she stated a second before she popped out. That was interesting… With my work done, I pulled myself out.
I opened my eyes to my dark bedroom. Tired, I snuggled down into my blankets and fell asleep.
* * *
Scratching woke me up. I stayed completely still as I opened my eyes. Hades wasn’t in bed. Sitting up, I found him scratching at the door. A whine told me something was wrong. I got up and crossed the room. When I opened the door, Hades bolted downstairs. My heart slammed as memories surged forward.
The last time he’d done this Clay had been outside the house. I took a deep breath and stepped into the hallway. Light glowed up the stairwell from downstairs. I let out a deep breath. It was probably Rory. Wondering why he was up, I headed downstairs.
Only it wasn’t Rory. Tara was on the couch, her knees pulled to her chest with her arms around them. Hades rested his head on her knees forcing her to look at him. She wiped her face then gave in and gave Hades’ ears a scratch. It was impossible to resist that face he makes when he wants to help.
From the stairs, I could see her nose was red, her eyes puffy from crying. I went still. Tara and I didn’t have the best relationship, but… she was my cousin. And she was crying. I couldn’t just leave her alone.
I walked into the living room and sat down on the other side of Hades. Tara’s head snapped up.
“What do you want?” she asked, her voice cracking.
“Are you okay?” I asked quietly.
She wiped her face again and focused on petting Hades.
I stayed put. Sometimes people didn’t need to talk about something. They just needed to not be alone while they dealt with it.
It wasn’t long before she said something. “Do you have nightmares?” Her voice was small, hesitant.
I stroked Hade’s fur. “Every night,” I admitted. “It’s why the guys gave me Hades. He helps.”
“The same one?” she asked quietly.
“Not always.” I lifted my head to look at her. “The really bad ones I have over and over.”
“How do you deal with it?” she asked, her voice thick.
“I don’t know. I’ve had nightmares most of my life. I guess I’m used to it,” I explained. “But my shrink says that once you figure out what your subconscious is trying to tell you, that nightmare will go away. Or at least happen less often.”
She sighed. “I’ll try that.” She got to her feet and headed for the stairs. She stopped before going up. “Thanks, Lexie.”
“No problem,” I said, my voice turning raspy. I went to get a drink from the kitchen, by the time I came back she was gone.
I took Hades back upstairs and back to bed. While I waited to fall asleep, I wondered what kind of nightmares Tara had.
Ethan
Ryan was off again tonight. I cursed, stopped playing and turned in the garage to tell him so. Only I was alone.
“Ryan? Oliver?” I called. No answer. The windows in the garage started fogging over.
“Eth.” Sophie’s voice had me spinning back around. Sophie stood there, looking exactly as she had the day of the car crash. “You need to let me go,” she said firmly. She didn’t sound like a little girl anymore.
“What are you talking about?” I asked as the temperature in the garage plummeted. Seriously, was it snowing outside? I moved to the windows but they were iced over.
“Ethan. You. Need. To. Let. Me. Go.” Sophie’s voice was hard this time. I turned back to her as my heart started to race. If it was snowing then Sophie needed a coat.
“We need to get home before the snow gets bad,” I told her. Her face grew pained.
“LET ME GO!” she screamed.
I bolt
ed up in bed, cold sweat running down my chest. Heart pounding, I searched the room for what woke me. My breath came out in a fog. What the fuck…? A crunching sound came from the corner under the windows.
No… Taking deep breaths, I moved to the corner of my bed. My acoustic guitar was off its stand, on the floor and shattered into pieces. Fear tore through me.
This ghost was getting out of hand. I moved back until I was resting my back against the wall. I needed Lexie to take care of it tomorrow.
I watched the fog on the windows disappear along with the cold. I stayed put, trying to remember my nightmare until the sun came up.
Chapter 9
Tuesday
I was cursing as I walked through the halls holding a tissue to my bloody nose. Why did I decide to try crossing twenty-one today? I grumbled at myself. I had been lucky not to pass out in the grass and only had a nose bleed and a splitting headache to deal with. Thankfully, my nose finally stopped bleeding before I reached the guys. I threw away my tissue as I passed a garbage can.
When I stepped out of the hallway I could see something was wrong with the guys. Every one of them was tense. Zeke’s arms were crossed over his chest, Miles was tapping out that staccato rhythm on the table and Asher was rubbing the back of his neck.
I stepped up to our usual table with a smile. “What did I miss?” I asked, setting my bag down. I eyed each of them in turn. Ethan had deeper bags under his eyes today.
“That ghost needs to go, Lexie,” Ethan announced vehemently. “It broke my acoustic guitar last night.” My heart dropped. Oh, shit. I was going to have to tell them… I glanced to Miles, he met my eyes and made a slight shake of the head. Yeah, not now.
“Okay, we’ll head over after school and deal with it,” I offered in my normal voice. I don’t know how I managed it but I did. My stomach knotted into one big knot. Ethan nodded as the bell rang.
“I’ll walk Lexie to History,” Miles announced. No one argued.
We were silent as we walked down a hallway until we were out of earshot of the guys.
“We have to tell them,” I said, my lungs tight, heart racing.
“We’ll tell them after school,” he said calmly, his hand a comforting weight on my lower back. “There is nothing we can do until then.” I wrung my fingers together as my classroom came into sight.
I nodded. He was right, I knew he was. But I didn’t know if I could take the pressure in my chest until this afternoon.
Miles pulled me to a stop then tilted my chin up so I’d look at him. “It’s going to be difficult. But we’ll all be there. It’ll be okay in the long run.”
I nodded. “You’re right. I know. It’s just... nerve wracking.”
He gave me a gentle smile. “I know. We’re all feeling it too.” He squeezed my arm before letting me go and stepping back. “One of us will be here when you get out of class.”
I bit the corner of my lip and nodded before heading into class.
* * *
The day seemed to drag on and on. That was until I was called to the office out of Chemistry. I walked through the empty hallways as I checked the slip again.
The counselor’s office. The school had a counselor? I resigned myself to being questioned by someone I didn’t even know as I walked into the office. I held up the slip to the woman behind the counter.
“Delaney to see Counselor Higgins,” I announced cautiously.
She smiled a forced smile as she gestured to one of the office doors. “The door on the right.”
I walked over and knocked. The door opened almost instantly, a short woman with brunette hair answered. She had on a pair of cat eye glasses that complimented her face. She gave me a friendly smile.
“Lexie?”
“Yeah,” I muttered.
“Come on in and have a seat,” she said, opening the door further. I stepped into her office.
It was clean, organized. Obsessively so. Even the books in her bookcase were color coordinated. I crossed the room to sit in one of the chairs across from her desk.
She walked around her desk with that same fake smile plastered on her face. Did it hurt to hold it that long?
“Lexie, I’m Mrs. Higgins, the school counselor.” Her eyes ran over me and lingered on my forearms. “Do you know why I asked you to come in?”
I had an idea since she was still looking at my arms but I wasn’t about to say so. “No, not really. I got the call slip and showed up,” I said casually.
Her eyes met mine and the smile dropped. “What happened to your arms, Lexie?” She asked gently.
Oh, come on. I fought the urge to roll my eyes.
Her voice was serene as she added, “This is a safe place to talk about anything bothering you.”
I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Look, I’m sure this is great for people who need help. And I appreciate the concern. But I just got cut up by a cat.” Her hazel eyes ran over me before meeting mine again.
“A lot of teenagers say that when they want to hide that something is wrong,” she said gently. I took another deep breath and reminded myself to be patient.
The office door opened behind me. I turned in my chair to find Mrs. Weaver, the Vice Principal, closing the door behind her.
Mrs. Weaver was a willowy woman with permanent frown lines. Her blond hair was back in a perfect French twist, her gray eyes ran over me with a slight glee in them as she moved to stand behind the desk next to Mrs. Higgins. This didn’t seem to bother the counselor a bit.
“We just want to make sure you’re safe,” Mrs. Weaver said.
I snorted. The counselor, I believed. Mrs. Weaver? Not a chance. “I pissed off a cat.”
“You were seen with a nose bleed this morning when you arrived on campus.” Mrs. Weaver announced. I went still. Were they watching me? “Was that from a cat?”
I met her eyes. “No, that’s because I picked my nose this morning and accidentally cut the inside with a nail,” I said, my voice matter of fact.
Mrs. Weaver’s eyes narrowed on me. “Is someone hurting you, Lexie? Your uncle perhaps?” Was she fucking serious?
“I got scratched up by a cat,” I managed through my teeth. “Ask my friends if you don’t believe me.”
Mrs. Weaver leaned closer. “Why don’t I believe you?”
I don’t know, because you’re an idiot? I bit back my reply by biting my tongue.
“Mrs. Weaver. This isn’t how these meetings go,” Mrs. Higgins chided the Vice Principal.
Mrs. Weaver leaned back and composed herself.
I was losing my patience. “Call Ethan Turner in if you don’t believe me. It was his freaking cat.”
Mrs. Weaver’s face became a pleasant mask. “Speaking of your friends. They’ve been walking you to each class for a few months now, correct?”
“Yeah,” I said, not knowing where she was going with this.
“This is making them late for class every day and it needs to stop,” Mrs. Weaver announced. My stomach knotted as I gaped at her. What a bitch.
“I’m still having issues in crowds,” I admitted. “That’s why they walk me to class.”
Mrs. Weaver’s smile turned sickeningly sweet. “I understand that, but I can’t have you making them late for every class. If they continue to do so then I will be forced to give each of them a suspension.”
I glared at her. What the hell was she doing? Trying to use the guys against me? An idea sparked in my mind.
I gave her a polite smile. “Well, we wouldn’t want that,” I said calmly. “If my friends can’t walk me to class any more then I’ll have to bring in my service dog.”
Mrs. Weaver’s smile brightened. “That is an excellent idea. Just be sure to keep the dog quiet during class.”
The bell rang. My phone in my pocket started vibrating.
I gave her a big smile. “Of course. He’s very well trained.”
“Good, now it’s settled. You can go to lunch now.” Mrs. Weaver dismissed me. Mrs. Higgins' mouth
was in a tight line. I had a feeling Mrs. Weaver would get an earful after I left.
I picked up my bag and left the office. I stepped outside into the hall and pulled out my phone. The group chat was going crazy.
Ethan: Where are you?
Zeke: Where’s who?
Isaac: Red. She got pulled out of class.
Zeke: And no one went with her?!
Miles: We didn’t exactly have the choice.
Asher: If she got called out of class she’s probably at the office. I’m the closest. I’ll head over there now.
The last was seconds ago.
Alexis: I’m okay. I’m at the office.
Zeke: Stay there until Asher gets there.
Asher: Already on my way, Ally girl.
I put my phone away and waited as the hall grew crowded. A little too crowded. A guy I didn’t know bumped into my shoulder.
“Sorry,” he called over his shoulder as he kept walking. I took a deep breath and waited for the panic to hit me. When it did, it wasn’t that bad. My pulse picked up and my palms started sweating. When nothing else happened, I took a deep, relieved breath. I didn’t even have to do my mantra. Learning those moves really must have helped.
Asher stepped out of the crowd to my side. “Hey, how are you doing?” he asked instantly. I grinned up at him.
“I’m actually doing okay,” I said, surprised at myself.
He smiled down at me. “Good, now let’s get some food. I’m starving.” We started down the hallway toward the cafeteria. “What did they want with you in the office?”
I explained as we walked, smirking the whole way. By the time I was done, he was laughing his butt off. He was still laughing as we reached the table.
“What happened?” Miles asked. I explained to them the reason I was pulled out of class. About the Vice Principal and her sudden appearance. I pointed at Ethan. “It was your cat who scratched me up, if she asks.”
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