“I’ve got her,” Zeke stated. I stopped walking and looked up at him. There were lines on his face, dark bags under his eyes, and his skin was pale. He looked how I felt. Like shit.
“Are you sure about that?” Miles asked in his careful way.
Zeke didn’t say a word, he just turned and started down the hallway. I fell in step beside him.
When we reached the stairs, I remembered. The dead were waiting for me out in the courtyard. Cursing, I headed up the stairs with Zeke keeping pace.
Today the courtyard was just as full as the day before; more so in fact. At least this time the dead were in the center of the courtyard while the Templars were to the sides. Both Father Francis and Father Andrew were there. I ignored them all as I moved out to the center.
“Same as yesterday. Pick twenty-five. Give me your worst off.” I tried to raise my voice but it didn’t work, it only came out scratchy. “Get in a line, hold hands, and hold on.”
They did as I said quickly and without a fuss. No one bitched that it wasn’t their turn, no one complained. It was a nice change. Once they lined up and held hands, I didn’t waste time. I grabbed all of them and dropped.
“Lexie, come on.” Zeke’s voice was hard and rough. “Open your fucking eyes.”
Oh, that voice wasn’t good... I forced my eyes open. Zeke’s harsh face came into focus. His ice-blue eyes were narrowed on mine, his face pale. He was holding me against his chest, one hand keeping his hankie to my face.
“I’m… okay,” I muttered as I weakly held the hankie to my face.
He let go only to wipe his thumb down the side of my neck. He held up the blood covered finger. “Bullshit,” he bit out. I didn’t have the energy to argue.
“Does she need to go to the med wing?” Francis asked.
Zeke shot a glare at someone before he looked down at me again. “Can you be moved?”
I nodded. His other arm moved under my knees. He lifted me off the grass and stood. “Get the door,” he barked. I rested my head on his shoulder as he carried me down to the hallway in the basement.
Somehow, he got my bedroom door opened and set me down on the side of the bed. He disappeared into the bathroom then came back and squatted in front of me. One large, calloused hand held my chin and jaw as he carefully cleaned the blood from my neck and ears. By the time he was done, my nose had stopped bleeding. He handed me the washcloth to wash my face as he watched me closely.
When I finished, he held my face again and checked my eyes. “What the hell was that, Lexie?” he growled.
I patted his hand. “I… I need a shower.”
His eyes began to glow as they held mine. He clenched and unclenched his jaw. “No, Miles warned me. Take a bath. I’ll go get you some food.” He let go of me and all but slammed the door behind him. Shit. Zeke was suspicious, and once he thought something was wrong he was like a dog with a bone, gnawing on it until he got the answer.
Sighing, I got to my feet, went to the dresser where I pulled out underwear and my pajamas from the night before. After starting the water, I set my clothes down on the closed toilet lid. I caught my reflection; my skin was white as snow, my eyes were bloodshot, and the bags under my eyes looked like bruises. Dried blood was here and there on my face. Great. Now I look like the dead. When the tub was full enough, I slid into the water and tried to think.
Isaac might die. Everything inside me shook. We couldn’t lose him… I lowered myself into the water to wash away the tears and dried blood. I sat up and I tried to stop crying, but once I started, I couldn’t. I took deep breaths as I tried to get control. What were our options? Get the demon's name, help arrives, or… the demon goes after someone else. My head grew quiet. In Isaac’s center I could reach the demon. Isaac was getting weaker… I stopped crying. There was a solution if they didn’t make it in time for Isaac. I was going to die anyway, might as well die for a good reason. At the very least it would buy us time. I couldn’t let him die. Peace filled me as my decision was made. I wasn’t going to let Isaac die. With that decided, a numbness washed through me. It was actually a relief. There was a knock on the bathroom door.
“Lexie? You okay?” Zeke’s voice helped pull me back.
“Yeah… I’ll… I’ll be out in a minute.” I quickly washed up. I got out, dried off and pulled on my pajamas. I was still combing the knots out of my hair when I stepped out of the bathroom. Zeke was plugging in his phone at the desk in his usual pajamas; a pair of black mesh shorts and a sleeveless black shirt. He looked up, his eyes running over my face. Whatever he saw he didn’t like, because he started frowning. I made a point to sit down on the edge of the bed with my back to him. Another sandwich, chips, and a bottle of water waited for me on the nightstand. I was getting tired of sandwiches but I kept missing meal times in the cafeteria. It was this or nothing.
After I was done brushing my hair, I pulled it into a messy braid before picking up the sandwich. I sat back against the headboard and I tried to eat past the knot in my chest. I only managed half the sandwich. I put the rest back in the wrapper and set it on the nightstand.
It had used Clay’s voice, and Dad’s. I couldn't even get upset about it. Yeah, it was sick, but... demons lie, they twist, they manipulate. That wasn't Ordin, and it sure as hell wasn't my dad.
“What happened in the courtyard?” Zeke asked, getting my attention. His voice an odd mix of gruff and gentle. Well, gentle for him.
I bit the corner of my bottom lip and shook my head. He didn’t need to know. Not now. But he wasn’t going to take that for an answer. He moved to stand near the bathroom door so he wasn’t looming over me. “Lexie?”
I met his eyes. “Not now.”
His eyes narrowed on mine, his jaw clenched. “Tell me.”
Wanting to just get away from the conversation, I got to my feet. “Not now.”
Zeke stepped as close as he could without towering over me, his face hard, his eyes boiling. “What the fuck is going on?”
This… this wasn’t the place or the time to have this talk. I turned to walk away.
“Lexie?” His low voice shook around the edges. It stopped me in my tracks.
“Don’t ask,” I whispered as I turned back, my eyes burning.
His eye grew wide, his face pale. “No… no…”
“Zeke…” My voice cracked.
“Not you too.” He ran his hand through his hair roughly before turning away from me and bracing his hands on the dresser. He took deep, shaking breaths. His massive frame shook. Wiping my face, I walked back to him and rested my hand on his arm.
“Don’t tell me…” he begged in a whisper. “Just… don’t.” He looked down at me, his eyes lost. He pushed away from the dresser, turned away from me to go back to the bed and drop onto the side. He buried his face in his hands as he continued to tremble. My heart breaking, I went to him and stepped between his knees, forcing him to drop his hands and look up at me. The agony in his eyes made it hard to breathe. I held his face in my hands and kissed his forehead. His arms wrapped around me, crushing me to him. I slipped my arms around his head and hugged him tight. He rested his forehead against me, over my heart as he took deep, shaking breaths.
It took a while, but eventually we both got control over ourselves again. He pulled back, his hands dropping before finding the backs of my thighs. My body warmed as his calloused fingers stroked my skin.
Deeply shadowed eyes met mine. “You… you need to get some sleep,” he told me as one of his hands dropped from me and one moved to my hip. “Come on.”