Her eyes grew wide, her mouth gaped. The Templars around her actually put hands on their weapons. Seriously?
I turned back around to find the courtyard was sorted out. Finally. I strode into the courtyard and straight to the dead. “Alright, line up and hold hands. Do not let go of the soul next to you or you will not make it over.” They began to make a line. I slipped off my beads as I went to the first person in the line. Their energy hit me hard; my nose started bleeding immediately. Fuck! Got to do this fast. My barriers were shit right now. I didn’t ask for names, I didn’t even say hi. I just grabbed the twenty-five of them and dropped.
I didn’t even open my eyes, I just crumbled to the ground. My head was pounding with my pulse, my face felt like I’d been punched, and my energy was gone. Large arms sat me up to lean against a wide, heavy chest. A big hand lifted my chin to tilt my head back, his fingers hot on my skin. Cloth moved to my nose.
“This… this is a lot of blood,” Miles observed. I blinked up at Zeke, trying to get my eyes to focus.
“Damn it, Lexie,” Zeke bit out before turning to the priests. “You want to clear the fucking courtyard?”
Father Andrew ordered everyone back to their posts. I closed my eyes again, feeling miserable.
“Can we get some tissues over here?” Miles demanded, his voice cold.
“She’s never dropped like this before,” Zeke pointed out.
“She’s exhausted,” Miles covered for me. “What the…? Her ears are bleeding this time too.”
Zeke cursed. “Just from crossing? That’s new.”
Miles didn’t say anything about it. “Thank you.” Plastic was torn. Soft tissues began cleaning my ears and neck while the large hand kept the cloth on my still-pouring nose.
Footsteps moved toward us. The witch made an odd sound. “So, she uses her own body as a gateway—”
“Does it look like she’s in any condition to speak to you?” Miles snapped, his voice glacial. “Back off.”
“Is she alright?” Father Andrew’s voice asked.
There was a heavy silence.
“This is new,” Miles explained. “She doesn’t usually drop like this, and there usually isn’t this much blood.”
Everything fucking hurt… but my energy was coming back. Well, what there was of it. I cracked open my eyes to find worried emerald eyes watching me.
“Hey,” Miles said softly.
I reached up and held the handkerchief so Zeke didn’t have to. “I owe you so many hankies.”
Zeke gave an exasperated grumble that vibrated through his chest into me. It made me smile a little.
“How are you feeling?” Miles asked in that silky-smooth voice that seemed to soothe some of the ragged parts of my brain.
“Like watered down shit,” I muttered as I pulled the hankie away. My nosebleed had finally stopped. I forced myself to pull away from Zeke and sat up. The world spun. I braced myself with my hands on the grass. Big hands went to my shoulders.
It took a little while longer, but eventually I got to my feet. Zeke steadied me.
I looked up at the guys. “I... I just need some sleep.”
Miles moved to me and took my arm. “Come on, we’ll take you to your room.” His voice was soothing to my heart.
I nodded.
“Zeke, can you grab her something to eat?”
“Can you keep her awake for fifteen minutes?” Zeke muttered as Miles led me back into the building.
I didn’t really notice what was happening as we walked down the stairs. I wasn’t paying attention to which door was mine in the hallway. All I knew was that we were stepping into a room. It was large. There was a queen-sized bed, a desk, a bookcase, a dresser, and a door. And lots of space.
“There’s a bathroom through that door,” Miles offered. I nodded and headed for it. “Lexie.”
I turned back.
Miles’ ears were turning pink as he gestured to several shopping bags on the bed. “I picked you up some clothes. I had to guess the size of… Um, I had the saleswoman get several sizes.” He was tapping on his leg again.
“Thanks, Miles,” I said quietly. “I appreciate it. I wasn’t even thinking of clothes.”
His cheeks were pink when he met my eyes. “The Templars want to post one of their people in your room.”
“Fuck no,” I said before I even thought about it.
“That’s what Zeke told them,” Miles admitted, “but they want someone with you today. So…” He couldn’t seem to say whatever it was. It finally clicked.
“Miles, are you trying to say you’re sleeping in here?” I asked, confused.
He looked over my shoulder. “I can sleep on the floor, or go get Asher, or even Zeke if you’d prefer…”
I gave him a small smile. “Miles, you were just in a car wreck and you have a broken arm. You’re not sleeping on the floor.”
His ears and cheeks started to turn back to normal, but he still wasn’t looking at me. “Then I’ll go change.”
"While you do that, I'll take a shower," I muttered as I started going through the bags.
Miles stopped, then turned back around. "Lexie, you lost a lot of blood. You might get dizzy. I'm worried about you taking a shower."
I gave him a small smile. "I'll take a bath. Okay?"
He thought about it for several heartbeats. "That should be alright." His shoulders were tense as he hurried out of the room.
After the door closed behind him, I smiled to myself. Poor Miles. He never quite knew how to talk to me, though most of the time he did just fine.
Putting it out of my mind, I went into the bathroom, started the water and looked at what was in there. The bathroom was stocked, from aspirin to the shampoo and conditioner I used at Miles’ house. I smiled to myself. He was sweet. Needing to wash the feel of that room off, I stripped down and slid into the water.
When I stepped out, I felt better. I wrapped a towel around me and went into the bedroom. I started going through the bags, looking at what Miles had bought, when I found the underwear. I raised an eyebrow. Lace. Black lace cheeky panties. Oh, yeah. Miles must have asked the saleswoman to pick out what I would need. I shook my head as I put those back in the bag and found a pair of simple, dark-blue, cotton hipster panties. I set them aside and kept looking for something to wear to bed.
The door opened. I looked up in time to watch Zeke come in carrying a plate. He lifted his gaze and stopped cold. His eyes ran over me a second before he cursed and turned around. “Damn it, Lexie,” he practically bellowed.
I looked down at my towel; I was covered. “Zeke, you’ve seen me in less,” I reminded him. “Hell, my swimsuit covers less.”
He continued cursing under his breath. “Not the same.”
I bit back a grin as I found pajamas. “I’ll be out in a second.” I headed for the bathroom.
“Dressed this time,” he grumbled.
I shook my head as I closed the door. Miles had picked out a cotton cami and shorts set. I slipped them on and felt the urge to pull the shorts down further. They were a little too short for me - they didn’t even reach mid-thigh. Oh, well. At least the cami covered everything, mostly. I did like the pjs though, they were a wine color and surprisingly comfy. I ran a comb through my hair before I came out with my dirty clothes in my arms. I tossed them into a corner before I moved to the bed and started putting the bags of clothes onto the dresser.
Zeke cursed as he came over and put a plate into my hands. “Sit, eat,” he growled. I didn’t even argue, I just sat down with my legs crossed under me and looked down. I smiled. Chicken noodle soup and what looked like a turkey sandwich.
“Mmm... soup.” It was exactly what I needed for my knotted stomach. He started moving the shopping bags to the dresser for me.
"I raided the cafeteria kitchen,” he grumbled. “I figured something hot would be good.”
I looked back down at the food and smiled. “Thanks.”