“Snoopy.” I sat beside him. What could I say?
“I’ll be alone,” he rasped as his eyes filled. “My biggest …”
I took his hand. “I know.”
He shook his head. “I don’t know if I can do that, Lexie.”
“We don’t know for sure,” I tried. “You aren’t born to it, so you can’t shift and maybe you won’t …”
He shook his head. “She said she was sure.”
A painful pressure began to build in my chest. What could I do about it? A thought came to me, the decision made in an instant out of pure emotion. “You won’t be alone.”
He turned to me. “Of course I will.”
I shook my head and smiled. “If it looks like you aren’t going to age and die with us, I’ll become a Reaper.”
His eyes rounded in surprise.
“They live forever, so you won’t be alone,” I thought out loud.
“You’d do that?” he whispered. “Not move on?”
I smiled. “For you? Always.”
His lips crushed mine in a breath stealing kiss. His hand moved to my hair and pulled my head back to give him more access. Love and warmth rose inside me, washing everything else away as his teeth nipped my bottom lip. I met him stroke for stroke, feeling his hard body against mine. His arm crushed me to his chest as a firestorm of need shook me to my core.
He pulled away and met my eyes with a hunger burning in his. “I need you, to feel you.”
Heart pounding, heat crackled over me, his smokey voice soaking my panties. I nodded.
His mouth took mine again as he pulled me to my feet. His hand in my hair turned me toward the edge of the bed, his hard body pressing against me from behind. His teeth brushed my earlobe. “Do you trust me?”
With hunger burning through me, I nodded.
“You can always say stop,” he whispered before reaching around to my jeans. Before I knew it, I was bent over the edge of the bed with my bare ass in the air. I began to shake as his finger slipped between my folds. “Mmm, perfect.”
I was already almost there from his grip on me. His pants fluttered against my ass as he freed himself.
“Condom,” I rasped.
“Stay there,” he ordered as he let me go. I relaxed into the bed, lowering my upper body to the comforter.
My breathing grew heavier, my shaking worse as he pulled away from me and rummaged in a drawer. Then he was back, his hand moving around my hip to touch me. He stroked my clit with sure fingers, making me moan into the cover.
“Shh, Beautiful,” he warned. “Don’t make any loud noises, or I’ll stop.”
I bit my lower lip as he pressed against my aching center from behind. “Please don’t stop.”
“Then stay quiet,” he ordered.
He surged inside me in one long stroke, hitting every nerve ending on the way. I gasped at the fullness deep within me, stretching me, driving every thought from my mind.
“Shit, you feel so good.” He pulled out of me only to slide home again. His fingers stroked me in time to his slow thrusts. Lightning shot down my nerves. I shook around him and the heavy feeling inside me. My hands twisted in the covers as he stroked me gently, hurtling me towards that edge.
“Don’t stop,” I gasped. “Please …”
His fingers stroked me again and I shattered. I buried my face in the comforter and tried not to cry out as my legs gave out, dropping me to the bed. My teeth chattered as I fell into bliss. His hand left me and moved to my hips. His thrusts grew harder, pounding me into the bed until I didn’t know where I was, or who. His hand buried in the back of my hair and pulled, forcing me to support my upper body against the delicious sensation along my scalp.
Every surge of his hips sent more and more heat through me, more sensation. He was so fucking deep. “Ethan …”
His breathing grew rougher, his hips more desperate. His grip on me tightened as his body became rigid against mine. He took a deep, shaking breath.
I was still floating in a sea of sensation when he pulled out of me. I shivered. God, even that felt good.
He lay down beside me, his hand running up and down my back. “Beautiful, you okay?”
I nodded with my eyes still closed, enjoying the feel of his touch.
“You need to tell me,” he whispered, his voice lighter than before.
“Good. So good,” I muttered as something else occurred to me. “Did I stay quiet?”
He chuckled. “As quiet as I think you could.”
I nodded. “Good.” I shivered as an aftershock went through me.
He reached down and pulled the blanket over to cover me.
Every bone in my body seemed to have disappeared. “I think I needed that.”
“Me too.” He moved closer and wrapped around me. He pressed kisses to my neck and shoulder. “I love you.”
“I love you too,” I mumbled as my legs began to feel steadier. “We need to go back for dinner.”
“Let’s miss it,” he whispered.
I rolled to my side, scooted into his arms and simply enjoyed the moment. His lips brushed my skin as he whispered in Spanish, I didn’t understand the words, but his soft tone told me it didn’t matter. I melted there, surrounded by love.
But, eventually, we did need to head back downstairs. We managed to pry ourselves from the bed, straightened our clothes, and slipped out into the hallway.
We were halfway to the stairs when Zeke appeared at the top. His jaw was clenched as he walked past us. Something was wrong. I turned to Ethan. He simply gave me a knowing smile and headed for the stairs.
I started back for Zeke. “Zeke?”
“Not now, Lexie,” he said as he went into his bedroom.
I hurried and caught the door before it swung closed and slipped into his room. “Zeke? What’s wrong?”
“Asher went for a run.” Zeke turned back to me, his face lined with strain. “You and Ethan … happened. Didn’t you?”
I stopped in my tracks, stunned. “Uh …”
He shook his head, his eyes filling with longing. “I can’t touch you.”
My jaw went slack at his words. “What?”
He clenched his fists and looked at the door over my head. “I can’t touch you. Be with you.”
“Zeke …” My chest burned deeply. “That doesn’t matter to me.”
“You want more from me. I can feel it when we’re close.” Zeke’s gaze met mine. Shadows swirled in the depths. “I can’t give that to you.”
“Tough Guy, I love you.” I shrugged. “And yeah, I want to be close, but that doesn’t mean I’m trying to pressure you into anything.”
“But you need it.” He turned away from me and moved to the window. “You need to be touched and I can’t do that for you.”
I didn’t know what to say as I moved to his side and looked out at the backyard with him. “I can wait, Zeke.”
He swallowed hard enough that I could hear him. “You don’t have to. Not with the others.”
“So? They aren’t you.” I looked up at him. “Tough Guy?”
“I’m too fucked up, too broken.” His voice cracked before he met my gaze. “I can’t be what you need.”
“What I need?” I blinked up at him. “That’s you. All that you are. The grumpy pain in the ass to the sweet, overprotective guy I love. I love every side of you.”
“And the side that can’t touch you?” Zeke rasped. “The side that never will.”
Never will? “I can wait.”
“And what if that day never comes?” he bit out between his teeth.
Shit. Did he really think that he’d never be able to touch me? Could I hold back that long with Zeke? The answer was as clear as day to me, but I had to make him see, make him understand. “What if the day never came where you could hold me again?”
“What?”
“What if I never healed enough from Ordin to hug you again?” My own voice cracked. “What if you couldn’t hold me? Would you have walked away
then?”
He shook his head, his brows drawn together. “I would have waited forever.”
His calloused fingers moved to my face but stopped just before he touched me. I reached up and pressed his warm hand against my cheek. “And so will I.”
He shook his head. “Baby, I don’t know if I ever will.”
“Then I’ll be happy with just being near to you.”
“Really?” He stroked my cheekbone with his thumb. “Could you really be happy like that?”
Love filled my heart as I nodded. “Just don’t give up on us, okay?”
He bent down and lifted me into his arms. I wrapped my arms around his neck as his hand cradled my butt. I buried my nose in his neck and took a deep breath of engine grease. I held him and he held me. As long as we had each other, we would be okay.
* * *
A few hours later I knocked on Miles’ bedroom door. A muffled voice called me in.
I found him on his bed, over the covers, staring up at the ceiling. Without a word, I went to one of the bookcases around the room and found Robinson Crusoe before I sat on the bed beside him and plumped my pillows behind me.
“I thought it was Ethan’s night tonight?” he asked in a low murmur.
“It was. He decided that you needed me more.” I opened the book, turned to the page where we left off and began to read out loud. “‘Never any young adventurer’s misfortunes, I believe, began sooner, or continued longer than mine. The ship was no sooner out of the Humber than the wind began to blow …’”
It wasn’t long before Miles scooted closer, resting his head in my lap as I read to him, my fingers playing with his curls without thought between turning pages.
Eventually, he lifted his head. “Do you think my mother will be at the funeral?”
I closed my eyes. Why couldn’t he ask an easy question? “I don’t know.” My fingers continued to run through his hair. “I hope so.”
“Do you think she’s dead?”
My chest grew tighter as I tried to figure out how to say what I wanted to say. “I don’t know, Nemo.” I looked down at him and saw the lost look on his face that he tried to hide. “But no matter what, we’re here. And we’re not going anywhere.”
His arm slid around my hip and held me tight. I went back to reading. Eventually, his breathing deepened, his body relaxing, though his grip never eased.
Chapter 10
Jade and the others left before dawn to attack the location Miles’ sources had found.
We were waiting in the living room, hoping to hear good news, when Jade walked through the foyer with a bundled figure in her arms. Her face was like stone as she passed the doorway.
Uma came into the living room before we could follow.
“We found her. The girl,” Uma announced, her face lined with worry. “And others.”
Bile rose in my throat at the thought. “Others?”
Uma’s face was haunted as she turned to me. “The people who were missing.”
“What did they do to them?” Ethan asked, his voice rough.
I reached over and took his hand. He squeezed my fingers.
“They set up shop, just like in New Orleans,” Uma said before turning and starting out of the living room.
Like New Orleans? Fuck. That meant they were experimenting on people, blowing their channels wide open. “How many survived?”
Uma stopped at the door and turned back to us. “Everyone we found was alive.”
But how many had already died? The question hung in the air.
“How many, Uma?” I asked again, refusing to be sidestepped.
She sighed. “We found four teenagers.”
Zeke stepped forward. “But no adults?”
Uma shook her head.
No, that wasn’t right. “With how many people are missing there had to have been more.”
Brody walked into the hallway and joined us from the foyer. “Do you think they had another location?”
Miles shook his head. “They haven’t found any shipments to other locations that look suspicious.”
“They’re probably dead and buried on the property,” Brody bit out. “There was a rotten stench about the place.”
Uma cursed. “There’s no way to know. The police will be all over that place by now.”
“Why are the police there?” I asked.
“We had to call in a tip,” Brody explained. “To get those kids back to their parents.”
Okay, that made sense.
“Were all of the survivors’ channels blown?” Brody asked. “You didn’t say earlier.”
Uma shook her head. “From the quick look I took, it was mild scorching. Most of them will recover with no memory of what happened.”
“There probably wasn’t enough energy to blast them, not with the Veil open,” I said. “Energy is moving, it’s not just sitting around anymore.”
“Which probably means they’ll make their move soon.” Uma started down the hallway.
“You think they’ll attack?” Zeke asked as we followed her.
“For what we found, yes.” Uma reached the door of my bedroom and opened it.
We followed her inside to find Jade standing guard over a small figure in the bed.
The breath left my lungs. The girl couldn’t have been older than nine. Her blonde hair was a tangled, sopping mess, her face sallow and pale. Poor kid. Jade had her tucked into bed with the blankets up to her chin. Her small chest moved slowly and evenly. She was out cold. What the hell did they do to her?
“At least she’s safe now,” I commented.
Uma’s face was hard as she moved to the bedside.
“She is. Right?” Isaac asked. “And all I’m seeing is dull gray.”
“The girl is powerful,” Uma said, not taking her eyes off the small figure in the bed. “She blasted me into a wall when we opened her sensory deprivation tank. The only one she’d allow near her was Jade.”
“Jade?” I turned to the dragon who still hovered over the bed.
Uma turned to us. “Then she fell unconscious.”
“From what?” Ethan asked as he moved closer to the bed.
Jade shifted her weight.
Ethan began to twirl his rings.
The air between them practically crackled with tension.
“Ethan’s not going to hurt her,” Isaac said.
“Sorry, it’s instinct.” Jade leaned back. “Forget I’m here.”
I doubted anyone could forget the dragon in the room.
“What did they do to her?” Ethan asked again, his voice rough.
Uma turned to us with a frown. “I won’t know until I look at her memories.”
I shook my head as I looked at Ethan. “She’s the only one that survived Jadis’ experiments beside Ethan.”
“Strong kid,” Zeke said.
Uma nodded.
I turned back to her. “Tell me you got Jadis.”
“They ran for it.” Uma glanced at Jade. “Well, they tried after the first three people were charred to death.”
“I regret nothing,” Jade stated in a matter-of-fact manner. “They deserved it. The rest were clean and fast.”
Okay … “So, you killed all of them? Was Jadis one of them?”
Jade began cleaning her fingernails with a blade that just seemed to appear. “No, but once we find her, I’ll take care of her just as quickly.”
I didn’t have it in me to be sorry, but … “You’re sure of that?”
Jade raised her head and met my gaze with her piercing eyes. “It’s why Evelyn sent me. I’m your backup.” Her gaze went to the child in the bed. “Though, I think I need to guard her until the next fight.” Jade turned to Uma. “Find out what they did.”
Uma sat, facing the girl on the side of the bed. We watched as Uma wrote in the air in front of the girl’s head. The runes shimmered. She finished with a diamond that she put her hand through to touch the girl’s forehead.
The rest was simply waiting for sev
eral minutes. I stayed near Ethan, brushing my shoulder against his and waiting. His arm wrapped around my waist. Touch always comforted Ethan, and right now, I knew he needed it just as much as I did.
Uma’s face grew pale. Ethan went rigid beside me. That couldn’t be good.
Eventually, Uma pulled back from the girl and turned to us, sweat beading at her hairline. “My God …” She swallowed hard and shook her head. “They succeeded in blowing her channels wide open.”
“What does that mean?” I asked.
“It means they took a girl with natural talent and blew her mind apart.” Uma’s face was hard as she turned back to us.
“Blew her mind apart?” I asked.
“Her sense of reality is shattered. Like pieces of a glass smashed on the floor. She doesn’t know what’s real and what’s not anymore,” Uma explained.
Jade continued cleaning her nails, seemingly unfazed by the news.
“She knows what’s real.” A small voice had us all spinning around.
On the other side of the bed the girl stood. Only, she was still in the bed. I did a double take. Same hair. Same dark bags under haunted eyes, only now she was in full technicolor.
“She just doesn’t want to come back,” she whispered, her gaze on the body in the bed.
Uma didn’t move.
The girl lifted her head a little to meet my gaze. “Not dead. She wants to be. Tried to be. But they kept her from it.” She turned back to the girl. “Kept her there, in the dark.”
“That was wrong of them,” Uma said softly.
“What’s your name?” I asked.
“Her name is Quinn,” she whispered. “Or, it was.”
“Um,” Asher cleared his throat, “how is she in two places at once?”
“She’s astral projecting,” Uma muttered before moving around the bed.
The girl backed away from the bed and Uma.
Uma stopped.
“She doesn’t like the dark.” She eyed Uma as she moved towards the window. “She makes herself sleep.”
“And she sees things,” Uma guessed as she backed up several steps.
The girl’s shoulders relaxed a bit. She looked out the window and froze in place. A look of pure joy slipped across her face. Tears began to fall as she tried to touch the curtain blocking some of the light. Her hand went through it. That smile began to fade.
When the Grave Calls Page 14