I sighed. Of course he didn’t understand privacy. He’d licked his balls in front of us for months. “Okay, it means something that shouldn’t be shared. So, if I’m with one of the guys, I don’t think I want you sleeping in the bedroom anymore.”
“How about on the other side of the door?” he asked. “I can sleep in the hall.”
I thought about it. “Okay, that I can agree to.”
“Deal.” His smile was so open and big, it made my heart warm.
As we drove back to Miles’ house, we talked about other times I would want my privacy and explained why. It was the first real talking we had done since Hades turned into a human in front of me a month ago.
Asher
“Watch my waist, Kayley,” I instructed as I put my arms down. “My hips will tell you if I’m changing direction, my shoulders will tell you what arm I’m going to use.”
Kayley dropped her arms and stepped back from me. She blew the long strands of pale-yellow hair out of her face. “I know, I’m sorry. I’m a kindergarten teacher, not a fighter.”
I sighed. And that was the problem. Kayley was a kind person with a good heart who wanted nothing more than to work with kids, and she was stuck in the middle of a war for her species.
The tall woman shrugged her slim shoulders. “I’m trying.”
“I know,” I said as I picked up a towel off the bench and wiped the sweat from my face. “And you’re getting better.” It wasn’t that she was a pushover—the woman could hold her own—but she wasn’t aggressive in fighting. She always defended. “One day you’ll have to take the offense.”
She blew out air, puffing up her flushed cheeks. “I know.”
The door to the weight room opened. Ally walked in. When she spotted me a brilliant smile spread across her face. Damn, it was good to see her. With everything going on lately, getting one on one time was almost impossible. “We’ll call it a day.”
Kayley looked over her shoulder and spotted Ally. “Um-hmm.” She turned back to me with a grin. “Does she know you want her to be your bonded?”
My face caught fire. “I do not.”
Kayley smiled. “Sure. Whatever.”
I threw my towel at her.
She caught it with a laugh before heading out the door.
Ally raised an eyebrow but didn’t ask as she came towards me.
“Hey, how’d your conversation with Rory go?” I asked as she reached me.
She sighed. “Better than I expected. I thought he’d have a fit, but it looks like he was thinking the same thing we were. Only, he wanted me to go with him too.”
I cringed. “You’re not, right?”
“I convinced him that I needed to stay here, but he’s not happy about it.” She tilted her head back to look up at me. “How’d Jessica take the news?”
I let out a breath. “Better than I thought she would.” I stepped closer to her and set my hands on her hips. “She argued with me over it.”
“Of course.”
I smiled down at her. “But she knows it’s for the best.”
“How are you holding up?” she asked.
I leaned down and brushed a kiss against her cheek. “Do you care if we just have a night in for our date tonight?”
Those emerald eyes sparkled as she met my gaze. “Not one bit.”
“Good.” All I needed was Ally to myself for a few hours and everything would be right again. We could manage that.
The door to the gym opened. Isaac stepped just inside the door. “You guys might want to get upstairs. Miles is telling Uma about what his dad did.”
Lexie
Oh shit. I pulled away from Asher and ran for the door. Asher got there first and rushed ahead of us.
When we reached the walkthrough for the living room we skidded to a stop. Blocking the way were the other guys standing silently. I slipped between them and got to the front of the group. Uma, Brody, and Miles were in the living room, sitting in a tense silence.
Uma sighed. “This certainly explains a lot.”
“Why they suddenly started going after you kids makes more sense now.” Brody pinched the bridge of his nose.
“I know,” Miles said. “And I’m sorry about my actions.”
Uma shook her head. “I understand why you did it. But it wasn’t your decision to make.”
“If you had shared the location, we could have attacked in force,” Brody stated in a clipped tone. “This could have been over a month ago.”
Miles hung his head. “I’m aware.”
Uma shook her head and turned her gaze to all of us standing in the doorway. “Since it’s become obvious that Jadis is aiming for you boys, no one is allowed to leave this property without a bodyguard. Is that clear?”
Yeses and nods circled the room.
Brody turned to Uma. “We need to rethink our strategy.”
“Agreed.” Uma got to her feet and followed Brody out into the hallway.
We filed into the living room. I sat beside Miles while the twins sat across from us on the other couch. Zeke stood near the fireplace while Asher sat on the raised hearth.
“Miles?” I said softly.
With his head bowed I could only just see him peeking at me out of the corner of his eyes.
“Are you ready to talk?” I asked.
He began to tap his thigh. “Yes.”
I didn’t know where to start.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Zeke apparently didn’t have the same problem.
Miles’ shoulders stiffened as he turned to Zeke. “What?”
“You’re using your father’s contacts.” Zeke crossed his arms over his chest. “Do you really think that’s a good idea?”
“If I hadn’t then we wouldn’t know that Jadis was coming after us,” Miles countered.
“If you hadn’t had your father attack then we wouldn’t have Jadis coming after us,” Zeke shot back.
“Zeke,” Asher said in a chiding tone.
Zeke turned to Asher. “No, no more kid gloves.” He turned back to Miles. “What you did was reckless and stupid. What the hell?”
Miles shook his head and met Zeke’s gaze. “I had the chance to put a stop to all this and I took it.”
Isaac shook his head. “That was a bad call, man.”
Miles buried his face in his hands. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
“What were you thinking?” Isaac asked, dumbfounded.
Miles dropped his hands and shook his head. “I wasn’t. Rory might’ve died and I just … reacted.”
“You can’t make decisions like that,” Zeke said. “Not on your own.”
Miles looked down at the floor between his feet. “I’m slipping, you guys.”
“You’ve been slipping for a while,” Ethan said as he leaned forward. “Talk to us.”
“The protection my father had when he came to town,” Miles said. “I hired them to protect each of us.”
What?
“You’ve been having us followed? For how long?” Ethan’s tone turning harsh.
“A month,” Miles said in a subdued voice.
“That guy who helped me at the bar …” Ethan cursed under his breath.
“Did they have a choice?” Zeke asked carefully.
I turned to him. “What do you mean?”
Zeke gestured at Miles with a jerk of his chin. “His father had mob contacts. It’s not unheard of that if one leader dies, another takes over and their allegiance shifts accordingly.”
“Yes, they had a choice,” Miles rasped.
“Why didn’t you tell us?” Asher said, asking the question that had been weighing heavily on my mind too.
“Because I knew what Zeke would say,” Miles murmured. “That you all would be angry and talk me out of it.”
“You bet your ass I would,” Zeke stated.
“Ease up, Zeke.” I turned back to Miles. “Miles, what’s going on?”
He lifted his head, his gaze finally meeting mine. “I keep watching the
people around me suffer because of that woman. All this time, I’ve had the resources to take her out. And I didn’t.” He shook his head. “I couldn’t sit back and do nothing about it anymore.”
My heart ached for him as I gently rested a hand on his shoulder. “But instead of stopping, it made it worse.”
He looked down at his hands. “I know.”
“Decisions like this have to go to the committee. This is about everyone and the future of the supernatural world.” I shook my head, at a complete loss for what else I could say to make him understand.
He nodded slowly.
His lost eyes met mine. “I only wanted to protect everyone.”
I took his hand. “I know, but it’s too big for us to do alone.”
His fingers squeezed mine.
“This entire situation is out of our control,” Zeke rasped. “It’s scary as fuck.”
Miles’ gaze moved past me to rest on Zeke. “It is.”
Zeke moved to my side.
Miles shook his head, his eyes filling. “I was so scared of what else they might do. Furious that they’d try to—” His grip tightened on my hand. “I can’t lose you, any of you.”
My eyes burned as I pulled him into my arms and held him tight.
“You’re at a crossroads, Miles,” Zeke stated. “You can’t keep using your father’s mob contacts. You can’t keep going this way.”
Miles held me even closer as he looked over my head. “I know, but …”
“Miles,” Zeke sighed. “It’s a slippery slope. You had good intentions, but you didn’t tell us.”
Miles shook his head.
“Miles,” I said softly as I pulled back.
Miles had his head bowed again. I had never seen him look so lost before. “I hate being followed,” I whispered. “I hate it with a passion.” I lifted his chin so that he could look at me face to face.
“I know,” he said.
“After this is over, are you going to keep having us followed?” I asked, needing to know.
That stony mask slipped over his expression, telling me he had thought about it.
I shook my head. “That’s what Zeke is talking about.”
The color drained from his face as understanding dawned on him. “We don’t want to lose you,” I said. “And this scares me.”
His hand moved to hold my face, his thumb stroking my cheekbone. “I just want everyone safe.”
“And we will be once this is over,” Isaac said. “But you have to make a choice. You can’t be straddling two worlds like this, man.”
Miles examined my face, then each of the guys before he seemed to come to a decision. He nodded. “After this is over, no more of my father’s contacts.”
I pulled him close and hugged him tightly as relief swamped me. He buried his face in my neck and took a deep breath.
“Thank God,” Zeke said under his breath as he moved away.
Miles pulled back and turned to the others. “I’m sorry.”
“We get it, man,” Ethan said. “It’s tempting to have that much power.”
And we did understand. Each of us would do anything for any of the others. But there needed to be a line somewhere. Miles simply hadn’t seen his.
Zeke
I finished putting up the last flyer in my stack. My ex-girlfriend smiled down at me from the post I’d stapled her missing poster to. She was a vampire now. I stepped back and started back down the street.
Brody, my bodyguard for the outing, was a quiet, lumbering shadow beside me. The man wasn’t much of a talker, and frankly, I didn’t have it in me to try to make friendly chit-chat, especially since the committee seemed to agree that we couldn’t do shit to help. I gritted my teeth as we walked down the sidewalk. Every post, every mailbox, had a flyer. I had peppered them all with posters today. And not one bit of it was ever going to help.
Riley wasn’t human anymore. She wasn’t going to come home.
Fuck, everything had changed over the last year. Ethan and Asher had been changed. Isaac could read auras or emotions or something. And all of us were on the edge of a fight. “We could help, you know.”
“You’re kids,” Brody reminded me.
“We’re all eighteen.”
“Barely.”
I scoffed and shook my head. “We don’t need babysitters.”
“Bodyguards,” he countered. “If Jadis gets her hands on any of you, she’d have the leverage to get what she wants from Lexie.”
Yeah, yeah. I’d heard it all earlier. An idea skittered thought my mind for the millionth time that day. I ran my hand through my hair as I debated asking. Fuck it. “What if you made me a shifter?”
Brody came to a dead stop.
I turned around to face him.
He scowled at me. “What?”
“What if I was a shifter? Could I fight then?”
He looked at me as if I were insane. “Why would you want to be a shifter?”
I turned away from his gaze and clenched my fists. If I was ever going to get a chance, now was the time. “Because I want to protect my family.” I turned back to him. “I’m not used to this, not being able to do anything. I hate it.”
He sighed. “Being a shifter is more than protecting what you love. It changes everything about you.”
“And I’m willing to do that for them.” I met his gaze. “I can handle it.”
Brody nodded. “I’m sure you can. However, I’m not going to turn you. And any alpha who would, you don’t want.”
“I could be an asset,” I hissed.
“I know,” he stated, his eyes sharp. “But I’m not going to change your entire life simply because you have some control issues.”
I growled at him before turning and walking away. The fucker didn’t get it. I hated this. Hated watching Asher go on patrol at night with other shifters, not being able to protect him or the guys. It went against every instinct I had.
Lexie
Asher’s bedroom in Miles’ house was comfortable. I curled up against him, my head on his shoulder as he turned the movie on. He wrapped his other arm around me as he settled back against the headboard.
“Today was rough,” I muttered.
He brushed his lips against my forehead. “But at least Miles is talking now.”
“And he’s agreed to stop using his father’s contacts.” I sunk against him in relief. “That’s something at least.”
He kissed my hair, making me smile. “Well, the day is over now.”
“It’s nice to get some alone time with you. How was your day?”
“Brody cornered me again.” He sighed.
I looked up at him. “He’s still on you about joining a pack?”
“Yeah.” His thumb absently drew circles over the back of my hand.
“What are the benefits?”
He sighed again. “Protection, mentors, wolves to have at my back.”
“What are the downsides?”
He squeezed me a little. “Brody says that in unhealthy packs they try to control your life, including what species you can or cannot date.”
I looked up at him frowning. “Seriously?”
He nodded. “But supposedly, it doesn’t happen in healthy packs.”
“Does he know any healthy packs?” I asked, curious.
“There are several.” He met my eyes. “In Seattle. Massachusetts.”
“Oh.” I tried to keep my voice even. “You’d have to move?”
He nodded. “But I’m not going to join.”
“But it’d be good for you. Right?” I didn’t want to hold him back from doing what was best for him.
“If I joined a pack, it’d be after I graduate,” he said. “So, there’s no point in worrying about it now.”
“Well”—I tried to figure out how to say what I needed to say— “I’m worried you won’t do what’s best for you.”
He let go of my hand and brushed his knuckles along my jaw. “I will, I promise. But I’m also going to think abo
ut how it would affect you all.”
I shook my head. “You can’t.”
His eyes narrowed at me as his brow drew down. “Why not?”
“Because it’s your life,” I said softly. “You can’t make the best decision for you if you bring us into that decision.”
He pressed his forehead against mine. “I love you.”
Light and warmth swept through me. “I love you too.”
He pulled back and smiled. “Then trust me to make this decision?”
I chewed lightly on my lip as I thought about it. “Promise me it’ll be what’s best for you and what you want?”
His eyes twinkled with humor and understanding. “I promise.”
“I trust you,” I whispered as he leaned down to kiss me.
A knock sounded on the door.
We pulled away as Isaac poked his head in the door. “Hey, there you guys are.” He opened the door and walked inside with Ethan following.
Zeke came in last with a large bowl of popcorn. “What are we watching?”
“Uh … guys?” This was private time. What did they think they were doing?
Ethan plopped down in front of me and dropped back to lay his head against my knees.
Isaac sat in front of Asher. “It’s boring without you guys around.”
Zeke dropped onto the end of the bed and laid back. He left the bowl on his stomach as he tucked an arm under his head. “Godzilla. Nice.”
“Which version?” Miles asked as he came in and sat on the floor at the foot of the bed.
I turned to the guys. “Guys, we were kinda …”
Asher smiled and squeezed me softly. “It’s okay.”
I raised an eyebrow as the others began talking about the movie. “Are you sure?”
He nodded.
I smiled and rested my head against his shoulder and simply enjoyed being with everyone.
At least until my phone rang.
I checked the number then answered. “Hey, Rory.”
“Hey, kid, listen … I’m in the emergency room.”
It took us longer than I’d like to gather our new bodyguards, stuff everyone into the cars and get across town.
When The Grave Calls (The Veil Diaries Book 9) Page 10