Isaac grinned a heartbeat before he went after it. I’d seen Isaac fight in the ring, but this was a totally new and different Isaac I was seeing. This one was relentless. And patient. Isaac landed blow after blow with the light covering him. The demon howled and snarled. It tried to hit Isaac, but Isaac simply wasn’t there anymore.
“You cut them off, you kept throwing the past in my face, you lied!” Isaac shouted as he landed strikes against the demon. He lasted longer than I did, but eventually the demon got through to him. He dropped to his hands and knees. Blood poured from slashes across his chest. The demon cackled before coming towards me. Isaac crawled to me, placing himself between me and the demon.
“Isaac… don’t.” I tried to move around him but his arm kept me where I was.
The demon towered over us.
“I’m sorry...” he whispered.
An explosion of light ripped through the sky. I closed my eyes against it. The demon screeched and burst into flame.
When my eyes adjusted it looked like day. The faint scent of lime and flowers drifted on the breeze. The sky turned blue, the mud turned to grass. A swath of desert turned to ocean. The transformation was breathtaking.
Isaac turned around and started to look at my injuries. He pulled up my bloody shirt and cursed. Three long gashes ran from the back of my hip up to the front of my ribs along with other smaller gashes. But I didn’t care. Isaac was alive. My eyes burned as I examined every inch of his face. The shadows were gone, his cheeks were filled out again, his wounds were disappearing… Tears poured out of me.
He pulled me against him and hugged me tight. “You’re fucking crazy,” he snapped.
“Just figuring that out?” I countered dryly, ignoring the blood and pain. He smiled as he pulled back to look down at me. His chocolate eyes glowed with light, making them an amber that was distinctly Isaac. But I wasn’t done. “No more blaming yourself. No more stupid risks.” This wasn’t up for negotiation. I wasn’t going to put up with this shit anymore.
His smile faded. “I’ve been doing it so long…” His eyes met mine. “I can’t tell the difference between a challenge and a stupid risk anymore.”
I reached up and held his face. “Then ask. Ask me, ask one of the guys, until you can tell the difference again. Trust us.” His eyes grew shadowed again. I knew exactly what he was thinking. “She did not blame you,” I growled. “She wanted you to be happy. And if that doesn’t convince you that it wasn’t your fault, I don’t know what will.”
His eyes were filling when he nodded. He lifted my upper body off the ground. “What happens now?”
I smiled. “You wake up and heal.” I kept my voice soft.
“How?” I still sounded lost.
“I think you have to want to live again. You have to want to come back.” I swallowed hard. “And I can’t help you with that.”
His eyes ran over my face. “Yeah, you can.”
Before I could blink, his lips were on mine, one of his hands holding my face as he kissed me gently. Light burst through me as I kissed him back. I was jerked from him and thrown out.
I woke up struggling to breathe through the pain. My clothes were soaked with blood and it wasn't getting any better. I took deep breaths as I slowly turned to Isaac. He still didn’t look great, but he wasn’t bleeding anymore. In fact... there were only scars remaining.
“That was impressive,” a woman’s gentle voice announced. I tore my eyes from Isaac to look at the woman standing over him. Her dark chestnut hair was back in a braid, cognac eyes watched me from a stunning oval face. Her frame wasn’t large, but she had to be taller than me by a few inches. Her rather pregnant belly pushed against the fabric of her white sundress as she scratched Hades’ ears.
“You two put up quite a fight,” she said, her voice impressed. “But you almost got yourselves killed.”
“Who the hell are you?” I snapped, my hands going to my side to try and stop the bleeding. It wasn’t working. Pain continued to roll over me.
Her eyes ran over me, growing concerned. “I’m Evelyn. I’m the back-up you’ve been waiting on.”
Chapter 17
“Huh?”
Before I could answer, the door slammed open, making me jump. Pain had me doubling over as a tall, white-haired man in an immaculate suit came in. His elfin features were furious as he strode straight to the woman.
“You are supposed to be sitting,” he growled as he snapped open the chair he carried and put it behind her.
She sighed before she let him help her sit down.
“That was the agreement for coming.” It sounded like this wasn’t the first time they’d had this conversation.
She rolled her eyes before looking up at him. “Atty, this is Lexie,” she said patiently before she turned to me. “Lexie, this is my husband, Atticus.”
His gold eyes snapped to me and ran over me, assessing. “You’re the one working on the Veil. And you’re bleeding.”
My jaw all but dropped. “How do you…”
“Zahur sent us,” she explained quickly before she turned to Atticus. “I need to heal her wounds or she’s going to bleed out.”
Atticus growled. “Stay here.” He strode toward me. My heart slammed. Who the fuck was this?
“Don’t touch me,” I growled.
Atticus ignored me. He grabbed the folding chair I was sitting on and lifted it with me still in it. What the fuck? A new wave of pain washed over me, dotting my vision with black. He carefully set me down in front of Evelyn. I whimpered in pain.
“Atticus,” she chided.
“I didn’t touch her,” he replied.
She smiled at me as she lifted the hem of my shirt so she could see my slashed ribs and bruises. “I’m sorry, we’re still training him in how to interact with humans.”
“I’m almost five hundred. I believe I know how to interact with humans,” he countered.
Her brow drew down as she examined the slashes up the side of my thigh. “You’d think.” She set her hand on my stomach and closed her eyes. I was confused as my wounds grew hot. I looked down in time to watch the skin close. Long scars took their place.
“Holy shit,” I stated. I pulled my neckline down my shoulder. A large puncture wound scar sat under my collar bone.
“You’ll scar, but they might fade in time. I also took care of that concussion. You had some pressure that needed to be relieved,” she said as she opened her eyes and dropped her hand. “We’ll have a doctor look at Isaac but he should be fine in a few hours, physically at least. Emotionally… he’s going to struggle for some time.” She winced and rubbed the side of her stomach.
“Evelyn.” Atticus’ voice tried to sound firm, but it came out warm. “You need some sleep, you’re still on bedrest. Walking down here was ridiculous.”
She looked up at him. “It’s not my fault you started to talk with the Templars and got distracted from the entire reason we came here.”
“Eve,” he bit out, clearly exasperated.
“I walked from the door to the bed,” she answered with a smile. “Ranulf carried me the rest of the way down here.”
He closed his eyes and sighed. “The three of you are going to be the death of me.”
The door to the room opened. A muscled giant in black leather with long, dark-blond hair poked his head in. “The lass’s friends are gettin’ restless,” he announced in a deep voice with a thick Scottish accent.
Evelyn turned back to me. “We’ll be here for a few days checking up on everything. Just ask one of the Templars to find me and we’ll talk later.”
I just nodded, too stunned to say anything.
Evelyn moved to get to her feet, Atticus gave her his hands and helped pull her up. She grumbled under her breath. “All your fault… silly pregnant body…” Atticus just looked down at her with warm eyes. She shot him a look before turning to me. “We’ll let your friends come in and see Isaac. I’m sure they’re worried sick.”
“Alright, Evelyn. Time to go,” Atticus announced.
She turned around and looked up at him. The back of her dress was low enough to show two large, thick scars that ran down from her shoulder blades and disappeared into her dress. What the…?
“Alright, Atty,” she said, her voice softening.