I sniffed. “We’re with you, Isaac. You haven’t been alone since I last saw you.” I ran my fingers over his cheek. “Ethan sits with you, I sit with you, everyone is here.”
“I can’t hear you guys,” he muttered. “Hades… I hear Hades….”
“We’re here,” I told him. “We’re not going anywhere.” I rested my forehead against his as tears continued to fall.
“When you’re gone… it’s cold… dark,” he whispered. Tears fell from his eyes. “All I hear is her voice… talking, always talking…”
“You didn’t kill her. You didn’t smother her,” I told him. “It was a car wreck. You aren’t God.” I closed my eyes as my own tears fell on his face. “Please. Stay and fight with us.”
“Trying… I’m so tired.”
“I know, but help is almost here,” I reminded him. “Help should be here tomorrow.”
“Really?” He opened his eyes and met mine.
I nodded, my throat tight. “Yeah. Help is coming, I swear.”
“How did a piece of shit like me… find you,” he asked, his voice barely a whisper.
I met his eyes again. “You’re not shit. I don’t love shit”—I sniffed again—“so please hold on for me. For Ethan. Please? Don’t leave us, please?”
His eyes met mine. “I lied to you,” he whispered.
“What? When?” I asked gently. What was he talking about?
“The night at the farmer’s market. I lied. I hate myself, Lexie,” he admitted. “For letting her die… I hate me for it. I can’t even look in the fucking mirror anymore.” He shook his head. “It’s why I do those stunts. I want to get hurt. I want the pain. I deserve it and worse.”
“She never blamed you,” I told him. His gaze went to the dirt.
“I know,” he admitted. His eyes met mine. "I pushed you... I called you..."
"That wasn't you, Isaac. That was the demon out there." I wiped the tears from his face. "That's when I realized something was wrong. You'd never say that to me or push me. I was too wrapped up in my own crap to see it."
He shook his head. "I should have tried to talk to you sooner."
I swallowed hard. “I lied to you, too.”
His shadowed eyes met mine. “About what?”
“I got news from the doctor,” I said quietly.
He lifted his hand and took mine. “Lexie?”
“I’m wearing out. I’m crossing thirty souls a day, sometimes even more,” I told him. His eyes narrowed on mine. “I’m getting nosebleeds for no reason. I can’t ever seem to get enough sleep. My barriers are getting weaker. I’m even wearing my beads again.”
“When did this start?” he breathed.
“Over the last couple months,” I admitted. “Since Davis jumped me. I just had a scan done; I got the results a few days ago.”
“What does that mean?” he asked.
“It means… things are going to get worse,” I said. I explained about the dot on the first scan, and the size of the dot on the second. What was causing it and what my options were.
“Red…”
“So…” I fought back tears, “you need to stick around. You need to get through this. Because… they can’t lose both of us.”
“They can’t lose either of us. I’m trying, but you need to try too.” His voice was thin… tired.
“You are stronger than you know,” I told him. “You’re my Isaac. You chase me, you pick me up, you even smack my ass.” He chuckled softly. It was tired, but it was there. “I never thought I’d like that. I love getting even with you. I love how you make me laugh. How you always, always manage to get me to smile no matter how bad it is.” He grinned a little. “I love pranking you and watching you pull pranks on Zeke. It’s always hilarious when you piss him off.”
“I am good at that…” A little color came back into his cheeks. His eyes met mine. I kept talking to him; telling him what I loved about him, how he irritated me, how we couldn’t lose him. The more I talked, the more color came back to his face. The more his eyes looked like his. I felt the first pull telling me I was about to go back. I helped him sit up again, threw up a bigger ball of light than before, and conjured more flares for him. I met his eyes again. “I’m going to be yanked out. But I think I know how to do this now. I’ll be back as soon as possible. You will not be alone.”
He nodded. He looked better than he had when I arrived. I was thankful as I was pulled back and thrown out.
I opened my eyes to find the demon glaring at me. I looked it in the eye and wiped the blood from under my nose. “You were saying, motherfucker?”
Its eyes narrowed at me as it started talking again, still in Clay’s voice. I gritted my teeth and fought to stay there. I had promised him…
Asher
Ethan was asleep in the bed, his face pale and sweating. He was probably having a nightmare. I couldn't blame him. Hell, no one was sleeping well right now. Ally hadn't looked good either. I closed my eyes and rubbed my temple.
Ally. What the hell was that thing saying to her? Ethan never said a word about it. That alone told me it was bad. I wanted nothing more than to talk to her, ask her how she was holding up. But... I had to stay away from her. My chest grew tight. I took a slow, deep breath.
God, why the hell was I worrying about Ally? I should be worrying about Isaac! He's the one wasting away in front of us! Disgusted at myself I started rubbing the back of my neck.
It was Isaac... I closed my eyes, remembering the day we lost Mom. I had told the others that Mom wasn't smiling much the night before, so Isaac had hurried over early in the morning to be there to make Mom laugh as soon as she woke up.
Only that day she didn’t wake up. My eyes burned. I took slow, deep breaths. He had stood beside me as I checked her pulse, felt her cold skin and found nothing. He even made the call to Mom's doctor to ask what to do while I went downstairs to tell Jessica. He called the others. He was there for me, for Jess. For all of us. And I couldn't even be bothered to notice that he was struggling! Guilt ate me alive as I ran around in circles in my mind.
Lexie
What felt like an eternity later, I walked out of that room. I barely stopped long enough to take the microphone and battery pack off and hand it to Craig.
Craig’s eyes ran over me, his gaze assessing. “Are you alright? That was… brutal.”
I scoffed. “Yeah, nothing like listening to a detailed account of your stalker’s plans for you if you never got away.” I didn’t know if it was true or not, but it didn’t matter. It got the reaction the demon wanted. I had thrown up. Thankfully, there had been a trash can next to the bed.
“I’m stationing a Templar in your room tonight,” he told me.
I snorted. “No fucking way.”
“Look, I was only listening to that shit and I had to take a fucking break,” he snapped. “I want someone in your room tonight.”
“One of the guys will be there,” I told him as I looked through the glass at Isaac and Hades. “How’s he holding up?”
Craig sighed. “He’s struggling, but your dog seems to help somehow. Anyway, the team should arrive today.”
“And if they don’t’?” My voice was just above a whisper.
“Then our options are extremely limited,” Craig admitted. “Short of getting the demon to go after someone else, we can only keep his body alive.”
I couldn’t say anything. My heart was hurting too much. I just turned and walked out into the hallway. Everyone was waiting. Ethan’s eyes grew wide as he looked at me.
“What the fuck happened?” Zeke demanded.
“I saw Isaac again,” I announced as I met Ethan’s eyes. “He’s… struggling. Today, talk to him. He might be able to hear you.”
“You jumped into his center again?” Asher asked.
I nodded. “The fucker is on a roll today, so be warned.” Ethan came closer and pulled me into a hug. I took a deep breath of spicy cologne and fought back tears. Not now… not now…
Ethan kissed my cheek. “Love you,” he whispered.
“Love you too,” I muttered before he stepped back and headed into the room of hell.
“I need to get some sleep.” I started down the hall, not caring who was coming with me. Or even if anyone was coming with me.