Lexie
* * *
The hotel was beautiful, obviously a five-star hotel. The marble floor of the lobby alone told me that this definitely wasn’t the kind of hotel Rory could afford. I chewed on the corner of my bottom lip while Miles opened the door to the large penthouse suite. I followed Isaac in and had to stop my jaw from dropping. It was beautiful. The old brick was exposed here and there on the walls. The furniture was comfy but modern. We walked into the living room and kitchenette combo. Everything looked brand new and perfect.
“Hey, we have our own balcony!” Ethan said as he stepped through the white glass French doors and out onto the wrought iron balcony. We followed him out. He was right. The balcony stretched from one side of the building around the corner and to the other side. Flowers and ferns hung from the rails as we looked down at the bustling Bourbon Street.
“Alright, we have four bedrooms and two bathrooms.” Miles’s voice had me turning to lean against the railing of the balcony. He continued as he stepped out onto the balcony. “Two of them have two beds. One of the bedrooms has its own bathroom. So, I thought, if there are no objections, that Lexie can take that room.”
The guys agreed immediately.
“Are you guys sure?” I asked.
“Yeah, there’s no way you’re sharing a bathroom with us,” Zeke growled before taking a key card that Miles handed to him.
“Yeah, guys stink.” Ethan grinned.
“Zeke, your room is supposed to be an office. So, it’ll be small but it’ll be yours. The sofa in there is a pull out and should already be made up.”
“Thanks,” Zeke muttered as he tucked his key card into his wallet.
Miles handed me my key card. I tucked it into my wallet. “Let’s get our rooms sorted.” Everyone started back into the suite.
Miles pointed down a hallway past the kitchenette. “The other bedrooms are down that hall. Zeke, you’re on the left. Everyone else is on the right.”
Zeke grabbed his duffle bag while Asher grabbed his suitcase and followed Zeke down the hall.
Ethan paused in picking up his suitcase. “Where’s Beautiful sleeping?”
Miles gestured at the closed double doors on the living room’s east wall. “She’s in this one.”
Isaac picked up Ethan’s suitcase and started down the hall.
“I didn’t ask for your help,” Ethan snapped.
Isaac all but threw the suitcase down as he turned toward us. “Fine, fuck up your back even more. What do I fucking care? Just don’t expect me to fucking take care of you!”
Ethan stepped toward his brother. Miles stopped him.
“Isaac, I can use a hand,” I said before I could stop myself.
Isaac glared at his brother as he passed him, grabbed my suitcase and opened my bedroom door. I shared a look with Miles. He nodded slightly. I had Isaac, he’d try to talk to Ethan. I followed Isaac into my bedroom. The room was stunning. Exposed brick on the wall with my own white narrow French doors. A large white carved wood headboard, white linens with a teal bed scarf on the end. A matching teal armchair near the window. My own tv was on the wall to the living room with a big dresser underneath. If the bathroom was anything like my room, I was going to be in heaven. Isaac set my suitcase on the bed scarf. I closed the door so the others couldn’t hear us.
“What was that about?” I asked as I moved to his side.
“Nothing,” he muttered as he turned to sit down on the bed. He looked up at me with amber eyes. “He’s been like that since a couple of days after we got back from Boulder.”
I moved to sit next to him on the bed. “He’s just been... like that?”
He nodded, his eyes on the carpet. “I think he’s pissed about something I said.”
“First, that wasn’t you. That was a demon,” I told him firmly. “Second, what did it say?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know, I’ve been too chicken shit to ask anyone.”
My chest ached. “You haven’t talked to anyone about it?”
His shadowed amber eyes met mine. “Just you.”
“Cookie Monster,” I sighed. “I think you need to ask. And not just him. I think you should ask Zeke, Asher, and Miles too.”
He braced his elbows on his knees and hid his face in his hands. “I thought I didn’t talk to them.”
“You didn’t, the demon spoke to Zeke. But it couldn’t hurt to ask the others about the things it said. This way, you’d know,” I said carefully.
His face was pained. “What if I did or said something-”
“It wasn’t you,” I said again. “You would never have said anything like that to us.”
His eyes met mine again. “How can you forgive me, Lexie? The shit I said… Hearing what I said to you was bad enough-”
“It. Wasn’t. You.” My voice told him to stop arguing. “You didn’t do it, you didn’t say it. So, all this guilt isn’t yours to carry. That belongs to a demon that was burned to death.”
“I know. It just doesn’t feel that way,” he muttered.
I leaned into his side and propped my chin on his shoulder. “I know. But it’s not the truth. Just-”
“Trust you,” he finished for me before turning to look down at me. “I do trust you. It’s me that I don’t trust.”
Heart aching, I moved my hand up his back to the back of his neck and traced the runes surrounding the symbol that kept all of them safe from demons. “You’ll trust yourself again, Cookie Monster. It’s just going to take time.”
His hand came up to my face, his thumb traced my cheekbone. My heart raced as he leaned down and kissed me softly. My body thrummed with heat as he took his time, his lips lingering. The scent of limes filled my lungs as he pulled back slowly.
I opened my eyes. “Isaac...”
“I couldn’t help it,” he admitted with a smile. “You make me feel better.”
I sighed and pulled back until I was just sitting next to him again. I needed to stop kissing him, it was only a matter of time before we got caught. But I really didn’t want to stop... Not knowing what else to do, I got to my feet and grinned at him over my shoulder. “Come on, let’s play Hot or Cold.”
* * *
Hot or Cold was a game I’d invented to play with the guys when we people watched. I sat in the patio chair, my feet on the bottom rung of the balcony railing while I sipped ice water with lemon. The sun had set and the night was starting to cool off.
I pointed at a person on the street below. He was bald, wearing Mardi Gras beads and well, even dead he looked sweaty. “Hot or cold?”
Ethan and Miles leaned forward in their chairs so they could see who I was pointing at.
“Hot,” Miles answered.
“Nope. Cold,” I chimed.
Miles sighed. “How could you tell?”
I grinned. “Well, if you look closely, he’s in his tidy whities and no one’s noticing.” He was also doing a marvelous impression of a windmill.
Everyone chuckled.
Isaac and Zeke came out onto the balcony.
“What are you three doing?” Zeke asked.
I tilted my head back so I was looking up at him upside down. “Playing Hot or Cold.”
Isaac shook his head. “Still? It’s been a couple of hours.”
“Miles is getting better, Mr. got the hang of it first.” I brought my head back up and looked out over the crowd again. “There. Hot or cold?” I pointed at a woman in vintage clothes who was standing out of the crowd next to a pillar.
Ethan leaned forward. “Hot.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Why?”
“She’s leaning on the pillar,” he pointed out.
“One point to Ethan,” I announced.
Miles’s eyes narrowed on the crowd, searching for more of the dead.
I smiled. He was determined to get better at it. It was cute.
“Hey, there’re more musicians out on the street now. Let’s go check it out,” Asher said from the doorway.
“Oh, that sounds like fun.”
The others and I got to our feet then headed inside. Claire was sitting on the coffee table watching cartoons with Asher.
“Claire, do you want to go check out the musicians?” I asked as I slipped my sandals back on.
“Nah,” she turned around on the table. “Can I watch cartoons though? It really freaks out the living when I change the channels to cartoons so I haven’t watched them in years.”
The guys chuckled.
“No problem,” Asher assured her before getting to his feet.
Before we could leave Zeke stopped everyone at the door.
“Does everyone have their keys?” he asked.
“Yes.” We answered in unison.
“Stick together, don’t go off alone. If you get in a situation, call for Asher,” Zeke lectured.
“Yeah, yeah, we know,” Isaac grumbled as he grabbed the door knob and opened the door. Zeke moved to the side and let the others through. When I started through the door, he took my arm and pulled me to the side. Asher shook his head as he left the suite.
“Do you have your pepper spray?” he demanded.
I took a breath and let it out, trying to be patient. You and Isaac almost died, he freaked and he’s trying to deal. “Yes, and my Kubotan.” I pulled my keys out to show him the striking tool next to my pepper spray.
He nodded. “Stay close to someone, if those witches show-”
“Zeke,” I stopped him. “They don’t even know I’m here or who I am. I think we’ll be okay.”
He clenched and unclenched his jaw. I smiled up at him, patted his chest then followed the others out into the hall where the guys were holding the elevator for us.
We stepped out into the cooling air though it didn’t seem the humidity was going anywhere. I moved up next to Miles and wrapped my arm around his. “So, what kind of music are we looking for?”
“I figured we were going from street musicians to street musicians,” Miles admitted, his ears turning pink.
“Sounds good to me.” I looked ahead of us and smiled. “Besides, it looks like Isaac is taking off on his own.”
Zeke cursed and moved his large frame through the crowd after Isaac. Miles and I both chuckled as the two disappeared from view.
“He’s going to give Zeke a coronary one day,” I said.
“Let’s hope it’s not soon,” Miles answered with a grin that sent my heart racing. “Did he tell you what was going on between him and Ethan?” Asher and Ethan moved further into the crowd, we followed when they started to get too far ahead.
I sighed as we came to a stop near a small band playing. “He thinks it’s something the demon said to Ethan. He hasn’t talked to anyone about it.”
He looked down at me with his thinking face, the one that made the small wrinkle between his eyebrows. “I know for a fact he hasn’t asked Zeke.”
“He might now,” I countered. “We had our talk a few days after we got home.”
“Good,” he muttered, his eyes unfocused. “Maybe I should-” His cellphone rang.
Miles pulled out his phone, his posture grew rigid as he sent it to voicemail.
“Nemo?” I squeezed his arm. He looked down at me again. “Who do you keep sending to voicemail?”
He looked away. “It’s nothing.”
“Last time someone told me something was nothing, they ended up possessed by a demon.” His hunter green eyes met mine. “What’s going on?”
He gestured to a spot where we could get out of the crush of the crowd. We started making our way there, Miles’s hand moved to my lower back as he tried to keep people from bumping into me. Warm chills ran up my spine.
When we were out of the crush he turned to me. His eyes were shadowed. “It’s my father.”
Chapter 4
July 11th, Wednesday Evening
“Your dad?” I didn’t even know his dad talked to him.
He nodded, his face blank. “When I made the hotel reservation, the manager called my father.”
I raised an eyebrow. “What? How? Why?”
His gaze dropped to the ground. “We own the hotel.”
“Wait, I thought your dad had a shipping business?” I asked.
Miles lifted his head, his gaze going over my shoulder. His fingers began tapping on his leg. “He diversified years ago. The company has a hotel in just about every major city around the world.”
“What does he want?” I asked carefully.
His gaze finally met mine. “I honestly have no idea. Traveling isn’t really anything new for me.” He shook his head as he looked away.
“I didn’t even know you still talked to him,” I said, my voice quiet.
“I don’t. Mostly he talks and I start running through equations. For the last year, I've just been hanging up.” His gaze met mine again. “When I went to check in, the manager had been given instructions not to give us the rooms if I didn’t call.”
“Seriously?” Hell, he sounded like a piece of work.
His tapping grew faster. “Yes, it took a while to work out without calling him.”
“And he’s still calling?” I asked gently.
“I refuse to answer. There is nothing I need to hear from him and nothing I need to say.” His voice grew colder, practically making me shiver.
Not knowing what to say, I stepped closer and wrapped my arms around his waist. He moved his arms around me and held me close. Wintergreen tickled my senses as I relaxed into him. “I’m sorry, Nemo. I didn’t know coming down here would cause you problems.”
He rested his cheek against my hair. “It’s alright, Angel.”
I smiled against his shirt. His voice always softened when he called me Angel. I loved it. Guilt hit me hard. What the hell was I doing? I pulled away and gave him a tense smile. Miles’s eyes narrowed on me but I turned away to look at the crowd. I needed to stop touching the guys so much. I tucked my hands into my pockets, searched the crowd for the others and found Zeke practically dragging Isaac back by his collar.
Miles followed my gaze. “Did he tell you he quit MMA?”
My head snapped around to him. “What?”
Miles gaze went back to Zeke and Isaac as they moved through the crowd. “I talked to Dave, his trainer, he’s backed out of the season.”
I cursed. That wasn’t good. MMA was Isaac’s passion, he lived it, breathed it. If he backed out… “He doesn’t trust himself.”
Miles turned back to me. “With what?”
“I think with everything right now,” I said, my heart aching. “He’s scared to talk to you guys about what happened. He’s doesn’t trust his own judgement...” Okay, yeah, Isaac quitting wasn’t out of the blue.
A crowd of people came down the sidewalk, Miles’s hand moved to my lower back again as we moved back into the crowd. “I think there’s something we can do.”
“I hope so.”
We joined the others. I took Zeke, while Miles walked with Isaac. Asher stuck with Ethan. We strolled around the Quarter, listening to brass bands on the street. Trying food from here and there. We laughed, we had fun. We kept playing Hot or Cold. Miles was really hopeless at it. I just kept laughing.
Isaac
My heart pounded as Miles and I followed the others through the crowd. Lexie teased Zeke as they walked further ahead. The giant just muttered under his breath, making her laugh again.
I sighed, she was right. I needed to ask Miles what I had said to him. I took several deep breaths before I managed to say a word. “What did I say to you?”
“When?” Miles asked, slowing his stride.
I sighed, my stomach in knots. “In Boulder.”
Miles didn’t even twitch as we made our way through the crowd. “You didn’t say anything, you weren’t there.”
I stopped in the crowd. “I was there in the ring.”
Miles turned back to me. “Not entirely.” He gestured for me to follow. We walked out of the crowd and into a small coffee shop. We found a small
corner table and sat down.
Before Miles could say anything, the waitress came to the table. “Evening, what can I get you two?”
“An iced coffee, please?” Miles asked.
She gave him a thousand-megawatt smile. “Sure, cutie.” She turned to me with the same smile. “How about you, sexy?”
“A lemonade, please?” I ignored the sexy part. Her smile dimmed as she turned to head back to the counter.
“Isaac,” Miles said, his voice calm. “That wasn’t you in that fight. You don’t fight that way.”
I wished he was right but... “I beat the shit out of Joshua a couple of days before that.” I waited for him to react. He didn’t, he just met my eyes and waited.
“Here are your drinks.” The waitress returned and set down our glasses. “If you need anything else, please just let me know.” I kept Miles’s gaze as she stood there for a couple of heartbeats before walking away.
“Lexie mentioned your knuckles were scraped,” he finally said. “What do you remember about it?”
“We were at some party at a friend’s house,” I muttered, taking the paper off my straw. “I was drunk, pissed off because Lexie blew me off that day to go to her grandfather’s-”
“She hadn’t planned that,” he reminded me. “And it was important for her to go-”
“I know.” I stopped him there. I didn’t need the lecture. “I know that now, but then... that thing was in my head and twisting me around.”
“Do you remember what started it?”
I nodded. “He came outside and said I was pussy whipped.”
Miles eyed me. “Is that all?”
“No.” I met his gaze again. “He called Red a bitch. That’s when I started hitting him.”
Miles’s eyes flashed cold before he looked down at the table. He used his straw to stir his coffee. “I would have done the same.”
“Yeah,” I mumbled. “I beat the shit out of him and left him on the grass.”
“You were angry,” he said. “But that isn’t like you.”
Secrets From the Grave Page 5
