“Then you have your proof,” Zeke stated.
Stunned, I simply took off my glasses and sat there as the others began talking around me.
Chapter 20
Monday
Asher
I stepped outside only to be brought up short. My wolf woke and raised my head into the air as soon as I stepped on the front porch. A familiar musky scent came in on a breeze. I stepped out further and looked down the block.
It wasn’t hard to spot him. The shifter from the woods wasn’t even trying to hide from me. He leaned against a car, his arms crossed over his chest, the scars across half his face catching the light of the morning sun. Shiny scars. Fresh. My wolf rumbled approval before settling down a bit. He didn’t go back to sleep, he was simply waiting for something.
Keeping my eyes on him, I pulled my phone out and texted the twins.
Woofy: You two are leaving with me. Houses are being watched.
I turned and opened the door to the house. “Jess! You’re driving with me today.”
Jessica poked her head out of her bedroom. “Why?”
“Someone is watching the house. Get moving.”
She cursed and hurried back into her room. I waited on the porch, watching him watch us.
It wasn’t long before the twins were shutting their front door and coming toward my house.
Jessica shut the door behind her, still zipping her bag up. For the first time in years, her hair was down and unstyled. Her natural waves shone in the light.
Ethan noticed. “You’re not wearing make up?”
“And you’re in flannel,” Isaac added, his eyebrows in his hairline.
Jess slung her bag over her shoulder and shot him a look. “I’ll put on make-up at school.”
Ethan tilted his head to the side and narrowed his eyes. “Eyeliner and a little mascara should do it.”
I led the others down the stairs.
“That’s all I really had time to grab,” she muttered as we headed to my truck.
“You don’t need all that crap,” I said as I opened the driver side door. “It just makes you look like everyone else.”
Jessica shrugged as everyone climbed into the truck.
We pulled away from the curb and headed toward school. We were a block away before I checked my rearview. The shifter was following in a car. With three other people. Shit.
Lexie
“What’s taking so long?” I asked Rory, shifting in my seat in the school office waiting area. “They said eight, right?”
Rory nodded, his mouth a tight line. “Things come up.”
Rory and I hadn’t really spoken since the talk at Asher’s house. He was still pissed. I could tell because he kept grinding his teeth. But to hell with it. “You’re still mad at me?”
He turned to me with an incredulous look on his face. “You ditched school after I explicitly told you to keep your head down.”
I looked down at my hands in my lap. “Yeah, I know.”
“You have to learn to follow the rules, kid,” Rory reminded me. “It’s the only way to avoid trouble.”
I’d never known Rory to be angry so long before. Not knowing what else to do, I kept my head down and my mouth shut.
Eventually, we were called into the office.
“Please, have a seat,” Mrs. Weaver said. Jadis leaned against the cabinet with her arms crossed over her chest. A slight bruise on her left hand caught my eye. Hmm. Someone got hit in the fight.
We both sat down and waited.
Mrs. Weaver eyed me, then Rory. “I’m afraid we can’t let Lexie get away with things like she has in the past.” She turned to Rory. “For starters, Lexie is suspended for two weeks.”
I nodded, expecting it.
“Two weeks?” Rory stated. “She skipped school, that hardly seems like the right punishment.”
“There will also be repercussions for trying to use Mr. Huntington’s family contacts to get me and Mrs. Weaver fired,” Jadis added as she turned to me.
I raised an eyebrow. What the hell was she talking about? “Huh?”
Mrs. Weaver nodded. “Exactly.” She turned to me. “You can’t do that, Lexie. It’s dishonorable and underhanded.”
I raised an eyebrow. “I honestly have no clue what you’re talking about.”
“The head of our school board came to me today and demanded Ms. Hall’s termination,” Mrs. Weaver announced. “Thankfully, with Ms. Hall’s help, we were able to straighten out the entire issue.”
Jadis’ help? I eyed the woman in question. “And what makes you think I had anything to do with this?”
She shook her head, a small grin on her face. “Who else would stand to benefit?”
The entire school? I barely managed to keep my mouth shut.
“What further punishments were you talking about?” Rory cut to the chase.
“Two more weeks of suspension,” Mrs. Weaver announced.
I gaped at her. “A month? This is my last year.”
Rory nodded. “I agree, that seems to be excessive.”
“It’ll be an in-school suspension,” Mrs. Weaver assured us. “She’ll be able to continue her schoolwork and not fall behind. She’ll just be under supervision.”
“Whose supervision?” I asked, already knowing the answer.
“Mine.” Jadis smiled a big smile.
I shook my head. “Can’t I have the devil instead?”
“Lexie,” Rory bit out my name. I shut my mouth. Rory turned back to Mrs. Weaver. “What other punishments?”
“A change in class schedule for one,” Jadis announced, pushing away from the cabinet to hold out a sheet of paper.
I took it carefully, being sure my barriers were up. When I skimmed my new schedule, my heart sunk. Everything was different. “You’ve taken me out of every college prep class I had.” I lifted my head and looked at each of them. “Are you really trying to sabotage my chances of getting into art school?”
“Good question.” Rory leaned forward, catching Mrs. Weaver’s attention.
Mrs. Weaver straightened her shoulders. “No. Obviously the classes you have are too difficult. Otherwise you’d be attending.”
That was it. I crumpled the schedule in my hand. “This is fucking bullshit.”
Their jaws dropped, but I wasn’t done.
“You’re actively trying to destroy my future.” My voice rose as I met Mrs. Weaver’s gaze. “What kind of educator are you that you think this is okay? What kind of person does that make you?”
Her mouth pressed to a tight line.
“Lexie, out!” Rory barked.
I turned to Rory. His face was hard, his eyes throwing daggers at me. Without a word, I picked up my bag and stormed out of the office to sit in the waiting area. This was fucking ridiculous! They took me out of everything.
I was bouncing my knee in the waiting area when my phone chimed.
Snoopy: Has anyone seen Lexie?
Before I even had a chance to finish texting the guys were answering.
Tough Guy: She’s not here.
Superman: Not yet.
Cookie Monster: Nope.
My stomach knotted as raised voices from the vice principal’s office drew everyone’s attention.
Alexis: Currently in the office, getting suspended and possibly expelled for yelling at Mrs. Weaver and Jadis. Rory is in there now.
The yelling suddenly stopped. I didn’t know if that was a thing good or not.
When Rory exited his face was etched in rage. When his eyes met mine, I swallowed hard through my suddenly tight throat.
“Home. Now,” he bit out.
I picked up my stuff and followed him out of the office and toward the parking lot. Rory walked me to the Blazer and ordered me straight home.
I didn’t argue. I didn’t say a word. The throbbing vein in his forehead warned me not to. My heart was pounding as I pulled out onto the road. Rory pulled in ahead of me and led me home.
A pressure filled my c
hest, making it a bit harder to breathe. Rory was beyond furious. And I couldn’t blame him.
The drive home seemed to take forever. Eventually, I pulled up to the house behind Rory’s squad car. It took me two tries to pull the keys out of the ignition. They tinkled in my shaking hands as Rory followed me to the house.
Hades rolled off the couch as I came inside. His wagging tail wavered as I set my bag down and scratched his ears.
The door shut behind me with finality. This was it. He’d had enough.
I turned to him, already apologizing. “I’m sorry, Rory. I tried—”
“You tried?” he snapped, the lines on his face hard. “School has just started, and you’re suspended!”
I nodded. “I know. I just…”
“You just what?” he snapped, stepping toward me. “Couldn’t keep your mouth shut? Couldn’t control your temper?”
“They took me out of all of my college prep classes, my art class even,” I pointed out uselessly. He knew exactly what happened, he had been warning me all summer of it.
“Damn it, Lexie!” he barked. “How many chances do you think you’re going to get?”
Hades brushed against the front of my legs. “I know, I fucked up. I’m sorry—”
“Sorry doesn’t cut it.” He clenched his fists at his sides. “Shit keeps happening and you keep saying it’s everyone else’s fault!”
My eyes stung as I looked up at him. “No, I know I’m the one who—”
“You can’t keep blaming everyone else,” he said in a voice I’d never heard from him before. It was quiet. Cold. Empty. My cellphone rang, but I ignored it.
“I’m saying it is my fault, I fucked up,” I reiterated.
His eyes were unfocused as he shook his head. An icy shiver ran down my spine as Hades pressed against my legs, forcing me to back up a couple feet.
“At some point…” His gaze focused on mine, his eyes changing, the brown growing darker, almost black. “At some point, we have to face it.”
Something about him shifted, changed. I dropped a foot back, shifting my weight.
“It’s you, Alexis,” he stated, as if it just occurred to him. “You’re the cause of all these problems.”
My heart dropped. My world stopped. Rory didn’t want me. He blamed me. My entire world teetered on the edge of collapse. What I thought was solid was suddenly sinking and flimsy.
His voice was calm as his gaze took me in. A look of pure disappoint filled his face, driving a blade into my heart. “You’re the one that needs to go.”
My heart shattered. I couldn’t breathe, move, think. I simply stood waiting for the next hit that would break me apart. He wanted me gone. My world crumbled around me.
Hades’ growl was my only warning. I pulled back only to feel the breeze of the baton as it passed my head. Stunned, I fell back into a defensive position on instinct. Rory’s face was red, his veins bulging in his neck and temples. His features contorting as he came at me again.
I barely blocked a blow with my forearm in time. The dull thud of metal hitting flesh echoed through the room. “Rory!”
“It’s your fault,” he stated in that same empty voice. “You’re the reason she knows.”
“Stop!” I grabbed his arm before it could come back down. Big mistake. A fist came out of nowhere. I barely dove to the floor in time to avoid it. I rolled to my side in time to see him drop the baton. Drool dripped from his chin as Hades barked and snarled him away from me. Then those dark eyes met mine. Familiar dark eyes. Jadis. Magic.
“Rory, this isn’t you,” I said in a calm voice.
Brown shone in that black for a heartbeat. He shook his head and turned back to me. Black. Fuck.
Rory came toward me. I scrambled into position to take him down.
Almost as if in slow motion, Rory lunged for me. Hades’ form blurred. From one heartbeat to the next, Hades was gone and a large, dark-clothed figure rose from the floor. Black leather hugged a lithe figure. The man slammed into Rory and took him to the floor. In less than a heartbeat, Rory was pinned and cuffed with his own handcuffs.
The world was silent as the man looked up at me. Black hair, blue soulful eyes….
“Hades,” my whisper was barely a breath in the room. My heart pounded in my ears.
“Stellina,” he answered in a deep, gentle voice.
I knew that voice. The trail…
Rory began shouting incoherently, taking my attention from my now-human dog.
Hades pressed his weight onto the knee he had on the middle of Rory’s back. “He’s being compelled.”
Compelled? Fuck. It could kill him. Rory fought to reach me with everything he had. “Get him to the bathroom in his room, in the tub.” I shoved to my feet and ran up to my room. The whole issue of Hades being human could wait until we saved Rory’s life.
Curses and shouts echoed from downstairs as I tore open drawers and slammed them shut as I dug through my supplies, running everything I knew about compulsion through my head. What it all came down to was simple. If we don’t cleanse him of it, he dies.
I was rushing down the stairs when the front door opened. Zeke came in, frowning. I stumbled in my rush. He barely caught me before I hit the floor at the foot of the stairs.
“What the fuck is going on?” he grunted as I hit his chest.
“Rory. Bathroom.” It was all I had to say. He set me down. I took off at a run. His footsteps echoed mine.
Rory was in the tub, struggling against… Hades. That was fucking Hades. I went to the sink and dropped all my supplies in it.
“Who the fuck are you?” Zeke snapped.
“Hades.” I reached over, plugged the tub and turned on the water. “Get his clothes off. We need to soak and wash him in salt and herbs. And talk to him.”
Blades suddenly appeared in his hands as if conjured from thin air.
Zeke jerked me back away from Hades and the blades. “Lexie, what the hell is going on?”
I looked up at him, my eyes wide. “Jadis compelled Rory to kill me. Hades shifted into a human. And we’re trying to save Rory’s life.”
He didn’t look at me as if I’d lost my mind. He didn’t even hesitate. He moved into the bathroom and helped Hades strip Rory in the tub. “Tell me what to do.”
Focusing on one thing at a time, I went to the sink and started crushing herbs in my mortar and pestle. Fennel, bay leaves, nettles, jasmine. Salt. Lots of salt. I pulled out the tub we kept in the bathroom and handed it to Zeke. “In the water!”
Zeke did as I said as I started throwing the mixture in over Hades and Zeke’s shoulders.
Rory thrashed in the tub, but thanks to Zeke and Hades’ size they kept him there.
“It’s not working,” Hades announced. “His head needs to go under.”
“We’re not drowning him,” Zeke snapped.
I ran out of the bathroom and into the kitchen. Heart racing, I grabbed a large quart measuring thing with shaking hands and ran back. I passed it to Zeke. “We need to talk to him. That’s everything I know.”
Zeke began to scoop up the water and pour it over Rory’s head. Rory’s struggling slowed.
“Come on, Rory.” Zeke’s voice grew patient and calm as he poured more and more water over Rory’s head. “Come back to us.”
“Hey! Where are you guys?” Isaac’s voice called from the living room.
Not knowing what else to do, I backed out of the bathroom and went to meet them.
The twins were there with Asher and Miles.
Tears rolled from my eyes. “Rory…” I pointed at the bathroom. Every one of them grew pale before they bolted past me.
All but Miles. Miles held my face and wiped my tears away. “What happened, Angel?”
It took me several deep breaths, but I explained what happened. He kissed my forehead and held me close. “We need to ground him in reality, right?”
I nodded.
His eyes met mine. “Get Tara. He needs her.”
Fuck.
Why didn’t I think about that? I nodded and pulled out my phone.
“Yeah?” Tara’s voice was quiet.
“Get home now. Rory needs you.” I hung up and clutched my phone as I went to the bathroom door and hovered. The guys talked to Rory, reminding him who he was, imploring him to come back. I stood and tried to breathe.
When the front door opened, I headed back out to the living room. Tara’s face was pale, her eyes wide and scared. But right now, it didn’t matter. Rory did.
“Some witch fucked with Rory’s head,” I announced. “They tried to get him to kill me.”
She scowled at me.
“Right now, he’s in the tub, but we need to remind him who he is. He needs you,” I stated simply.
She shook her head. “He’s not my father. I’m nothing to him.”
I couldn’t believe that she actually thought that. “You are a fucking idiot.”
Her eyes were filling with tears as she turned to me.
“That man loves you more than anything.” I took several steps toward her. “You are his world. He’s better than a father. He’s your dad. Yeah, they lied to you. But they did it so you wouldn’t feel different. They got a donor so this fucked up ability that I have wouldn’t be passed to you. So he wouldn’t have to watch you die like he watched his sister.”
“I know!” she shouted, wiping her face. “But that doesn’t change the fact he’s not my father.”
I shook my head. “My own mother beat me with a fucking belt. She’d call me a demon child. She hated me.”
Tara’s bottom lip trembled.
“Blood doesn’t mean shit, Tara!” I bit out. “Blood doesn’t make you family. Love, loyalty, support, sacrifice. That is what makes you a family. When you put your own fucking ego aside for the people you love, because it’s what’s best for them. That’s family.”
She swallowed hard again.
“And right now, your dad needs you.”
Tara met my gaze, her eyes clearing. She took a deep breath and walked past me, through Rory’s bedroom door.
I took several deep breaths and looked up at the ceiling. “Please, just… please.” I turned and went back into the bedroom and stood at the doorway with Hades.
When the Dead Come Home Page 27
