“Yes,” Craig and the other Templars said in unison. Oh, good. I wasn’t nuts.
The demon smiled wickedly, its eyes on the priest. “Father Francis of the Templars. I’ve heard of you.” The voice coming out of Isaac was the same as before; deep, dark, and chilling. “How’s the family?”
“What’s your name, demon?” Francis demanded.
The demon cackled as he looked around the room. His eyes found Ethan. “Hermano, tu lo que eres un idiota, eres un imbécil. No te preocupes, yo me encargo de el,” he taunted. Ethan’s hands balled into fists at his side. Those demon eyes moved to me and his smile grew. “Ah, Red, we need to talk.”
“Go fuck yourself,” I growled. His eyes flared red. Faster than I thought possible, he was on his knees and lunging for me. The Templars and Zeke tackled Isaac to the bed before he could reach me. Hades jumped on to the bed. Francis shouted for back up. Someone shoved me, and I stumbled and fell. My head hit something. Pain exploded through my head, making my vision grow dark. There was more shouting, but it seemed far away. Nausea rolled through me. Where… where was I? Hard wood pressed against my face. What…? There were voices I knew, shouting. I opened my eyes and the world tilted. I closed them again with a groan.
“Lexie? Lexie?” Someone was saying my name.
“Ow…” I muttered. My head hurt so much it felt like it was going to pop. The sound suddenly came back.
Miles was kneeling next to me, his eyes worried. “Lexie, look at me.” There was shouting elsewhere, barking… Zeke’s voice was among them.
I looked up at Miles. “Wha’ happened?”
“You were shoved and hit the desk with your head. And you’re bleeding,” he informed me. Yeah… that felt about right.
“Zeke!” Ethan shouted. “Let them take care of Isaac, Lexie’s still down!”
“You have to move her!” a man ordered. Miles looked up. The look he gave the man sent a chill down my spine.
“She hit her head,” Miles shot back, his voice chilly.
“We need to move him. Now!” the man shouted. Isaac…
“Lexie?” Zeke yelled. “Get the fuck out of my way!”
I started pushing up off the floor only for my arms to give out. “I need a hand,” I admitted, still a bit foggy.
“Asher! I can’t carry her.” Miles called.
“Isaac. They need to move him,” I said as I pushed myself up again on trembling arms. Large arms helped me to my feet before they lifted me. The smell of cinnamon filled my lungs. I lay limp against Asher as he carried me into the hall. I opened my eyes to watch as the Templars rolled Isaac’s bed out of the room. Handcuffs held him to the railing. Hades was on the bed as they ran down the hall, growling. Ethan ran after them. Things were a bit blurry as Asher set me down against the wall. I rested the back of my head against the cool stone. Ah… that felt good. Cold good.
“Lexie, how are you feeling?” Miles asked as he knelt in front of me. “You’re bleeding.” Miles was surrounded by stars as he looked up at the door. “Dr. Zimmer!” Cloth was pressed against my forehead. The world was still spinning as my stomach rolled. Oh, this wasn’t good. I closed my eyes.
“What the fuck happened?” Zeke snapped. I whimpered and covered my ears. Too loud.
“Go with Isaac,” I told them as I dropped my hands. I swallowed hard against the bile rising in the back of my throat.
“Ally…”
“Go,” I ordered. “I’m fine. Doc is coming. Go.” Asher cursed as a pair of footsteps walked off. Footsteps came out of the room.
“Miles, let me in,” Dr. Zimmer stated.
“Hey, sorry about running into you. I’ve called a medic for you,” a man’s voice said. Zeke growled; something hit stone.
“Lexie.” It was all Miles had to say.
“Zeke… don’t,” I ordered weakly. Zeke cursed over and over. I opened my eyes to look up at them. “Go with Isaac.”
“Lexie…” Zeke warned.
“Zimmer’s here,” I pointed out, “and no one is with the twins. Stay with them.” The guys shared a look. Cursing, everyone but Miles headed down the hallway.
Miles eyed me, clearly torn. He turned to Dr. Zimmer. “Take care of her.”
“Of course,” Dr. Zimmer reassured him. Miles headed down the hallway.
A woman in the Templar black clothes and tattoos came up carrying a large pack. “Someone called for a medic?” she said, her voice cheerful.
I shook my head. “Zimmer’s got me.”
Dr. Zimmer looked up over his shoulder. “Stay, I need to know about your facilities.” He turned back to me.
She nodded.
“What happened?” Dr. Zimmer asked.
“Miles said I hit my head on a desk,” I told him.
“How are you feeling?” he asked as he slipped on a pair of gloves.
“Um.” I closed my eyes and tried to think. “I’m… dizzy, nauseous, and I feel like my head is going to explode. The dizziness is starting slow down, though.”
“You also have a cut on your hairline,” Dr. Zimmer announced as he pulled a pen light from his pocket. He turned it on. “Alright, look at my finger.” I did. He shone the light into my eyes then took it away. He did this several more times. “Well, your pupils are sluggish.” He put the light away and tore open a small package. “This is going to sting,” the doctor warned. He started cleaning the cut on my forehead.
“Shit, shit, shit,” I snapped.
When he was done, he put a small butterfly bandage on my forehead then put the trash and his gloves into a small Ziploc bag. Zimmer looked up at the medic. “What kind of facilities do you have?”
“We have a full hospital in the med wing,” she announced. “We’re equipped to treat everything and do anything.”
He nodded. “Good.” He turned back to me. “I think you have a concussion. Your pupils are reacting slowly, which means you probably have some pressure on your optic nerve. You need to go to the med wing and get a CT scan.”
I shook my head slowly. “No way, I’m not going anywhere until I know Isaac is going to be okay.”
He sighed. “I expected that. Listen, I don’t know if I believe what’s happening here, but something is wrong with Isaac. You seem to have an idea about how to fix that, so… I won’t force you to go,” he said. “But if you don’t go, any damage this causes can be permanent.”
I met his eyes. “I’m not going anywhere except to wherever they have Isaac.”
He gave me a small smile, as if he expected it. “Okay. But if the headache gets worse, you get dizzy again, or you vomit, I'm making the Templars take you to the medical wing because that means it’s gotten worse.”
“I will.” If it got worse, yeah, I’d get help. He picked up his bag and helped me to my feet.
“They probably took him to the ward room. It’s the door at the very end of the hall,” the medic told me with a smile.
Dr. Zimmer turned to her. “Show me the medical wing.”
She nodded and they began walking down the hallway to the stairs.
I took a moment to take a breath and then I was moving down the hall. When I reached the only door at the end of the hall, I didn’t bother knocking. I stepped into a small room where the priest, Templars in black and my guys were standing. Across from the door was a large window. Isaac was in the center of a large, empty, stone room. Runes written in white paint circled the bed. Isaac’s face was completely shadowed. Those glowing red eyes glared at… Hades. Hades lay on Isaac’s body, his front paws resting on his chest, his eyes on the demon. What the…?
“So, that’s it?” Ethan asked, drawing my attention. “An exorcism?” My stomach knotted.
“Yes,” Francis said. “It’s that or nothing.”
I looked back out the window at Isaac. The demon was smiling. “Do it,” I ordered before turning back to them.
Francis nodded. “I’ll need an hour to prepare.” He looked at one of his men. “Assign them rooms and give them the tour.”
Craig nodded. “Follow me.” The others started to follow. I didn’t budge, neither did Ethan.
“What did the doctor say?” Zeke asked.
“I’m fine.” I didn’t even turn away from the window.
“What did he say?” Zeke demanded.
“Leave it, Zeke.” I wasn’t asking.