He sighed. "It's my homework for the week."
I grinned. "Really?"
"Yeah." He gritted his teeth as his grip softened. "I... know I can be a controlling asshole. So... I'm trying not to be a controlling asshole and order you around."
I looked him in the eye and said in a matter of fact voice, "It's not like I usually listen anyway."
He glared at me with his jaw clenched. "I'm aware."
I gave him a big smile.
"Now, delete the pic, please,” he asked again, his voice strained.
“Zeke, come on,” I tried again. “It’ll make my day.”
“Fuck no,” he snapped.
Giving up, I sighed and reached into my shirt. I pulled my phone out of my bra and handed it to him. “Here. Delete it. Grumpy pants.” He took it from me as I stepped down onto the floor and headed to the front of the dressing room. If he didn’t trust me with it then it was okay, but I thought he knew me better than that. It was just a joke anyway.
Eventually, he followed me to the doorway and handed me my phone before going back into his dressing room, all but slamming the door behind him. I tapped my phone and started looking through my stuff, wondering if Zeke might have gotten some revenge. I was almost done when I found the picture of Zeke in the blue shirt. I blinked. I thought… under the photo was a caption.
If one of the guys gets this, you’re dead. -Z
I smiled to myself. He let me keep the pic.
In the end, Zeke ended up buying a dozen or so black, V-neck T-shirts. He asked me three times if they were black. I had to promise him they were. He almost called Miles to confirm, but eventually believed me.
We were halfway to the Jeep when my face gave a familiar ache. I caught the first drip of blood.
“Shit.” I dug in my pocket for tissues. Before I could pull them out, Zeke was handing me his handkerchief. I took it and held it to my nose. Zeke was silent as we got into the Jeep. He turned it on and blasted the air-conditioning. I put on my seatbelt and waited for him to start driving, only he didn’t. He sat there watching me, like a wolf eyeing a trap.
“A ghost?” he asked.
I looked out the window. “No… I, uh, think it’s just the dry air.”
“Lexie.” His gravelly voice had me turning back to him. His brow was drawn down, his eyes worried. “What’s going on?”
There it was. The perfect opportunity to tell him what was happening. I had to tell him. I couldn’t keep it to myself. Come on, Lexie. Open your mouth and say, ‘It’s getting worse.’ I opened my mouth to tell him but nothing came out. Say it! My throat closed. I closed my mouth and looked out the windshield. Fuck! “It’s just, you know, the dry air and heat.” You fucking wuss. Zeke watched me for several more minutes before starting the car.
“Okay,” he said. I closed my eyes as he drove out of the parking lot. He believed me. Shit. Guilt hit me hard. Why couldn’t I nut up? I cursed myself all the way home.
By the time Zeke pulled up in front of the house, I was tired again. Seriously, this was getting annoying as hell.
“I’ll wash your handkerchief and get it back to you with the others,” I told him as I undid my seatbelt.
He nodded, his eyes on the road. “Thanks for helping.”
I smiled. “Thanks for the pic.”
He glared at me. I snorted as I got out of his Jeep and headed in.
I was halfway up the stairs when I noticed my door was open. Oh, come on! Taking a deep breath, I climbed the rest of the stairs. I leaned against the doorjamb and crossed my arms. Tara was rifling through my research books. Stay calm. Don’t kill her. I eyed Hades. The big lug was on my futon watching Tara calmly. The traitor.
She sat in my desk chair and opened my bottom drawer. My supply drawer. She pulled out my research journal. It was nothing big, just what I had found that worked against the dead and what didn’t. She opened it and began to read. Yeah, it wasn’t important, but it still pissed me off.
“What are you looking for?” I asked. Tara jumped to her feet and spun around. “Because I took my really expensive supplies and rare books over to Miles’ place days ago.”
She put my book down on the desk. “Why are you so determined to keep this stuff from me?”
Was she fucking serious? “You tried to blackmail me just the other day. Why would I tell you anything?”
She crossed her arms over her chest. “I deserve to know.”
“Why the sudden interest?” I asked, my voice tired.
She pressed her mouth together and looked everywhere but at me. “I’m having nightmares.” I stood there, stunned that she actually answered. “They won’t stop.”
I tilted my head to the side and eyed her. Was she trying to play me? Or was she telling the truth? “What kind?”
She shook her head. “I’m driving to the cemetery,” she whispered before she met my eyes. “Then I tackle you and choke you.” Oh fuck. But she wasn’t done. “Then I’m burning, as if I’m on fire.” My heart stopped. Mary Summers. When her body was salted and burned. That feeling still haunted my dreams. I never thought Tara would remember it. Shit, shit, shit. What the fuck was I going to say to her?
“You need to talk to your dad about this,” I tried. “He’ll be able to help.”
Her eyes flashed as they met mine. “You know something,” she stated. “What is going on?”
“Tara… you really should talk to Rory,” I repeated.
“No. You tell me. Now!” she hissed.
I sighed. Fine. It wasn’t as if she didn’t have the right to know. “In October, there was this ghost. There were circumstances that gave her more energy than she should have. She was determined to take over my body or kill me.” I met her eyes. “She found you at that one party, she possessed you, and used you to drive to the cemetery. She tried to take me over again, and when that didn’t work, she used you to attack me.” She gaped at me in horror. “It wasn’t your fault. There was nothing you could have done about it. Rory thought it was best that if you didn’t remember, then we shouldn’t tell you.”
She took deep breaths and looked down at the floor. “Why do I remember burning?” she asked, her eyes filling with tears.
I stepped closer, not knowing how to comfort her. “Because, while she was attacking me, the guys… the guys did something to get rid of her. Her anchor, her connection to this world was severed. That was the burning you felt.”
She looked away from me as tears fell down her face. “It was… so painful…”
“I know,” I said quietly. Her eyes snapped to mine. “I felt it too.”
Her gaze ran over me, her face filled with jealousy. “Why you?”
“What?”
Her blue eyes were burning as they met mine. “Why you? You get Asher, you get Zeke. Why do you get the abilities too? Why do you get everything?” she spat out.
“I don’t have Asher. Or Zeke,” I told her, my heart aching as I realized the truth. “What I do have is an expiration date.” She narrowed her eyes at me. “I’m going to die before I turn thirty. That’s the record. Hell, the tests are saying sooner.”
“What?” she asked, her eyes clearing.
“That’s what happens, Tara. The dead either take over your life or you go out being jumped by the dead and your brain gets fried.” My eyes burned as a vise clenched my heart.
“How do you-”