When The Grave Calls (The Veil Diaries #9) - B.L. Brunnemer Page 0,39
me. “Someone set my car on fire before driving off. I distinctly remember hearing another language before it went up.”
My belly turned to water and I felt sick. Stepping closer to the gurney, I lowered my voice. “You think it was witches?”
Rory shrugged. “The other cops think it was a Molotov cocktail, but I didn’t smell any gasoline.”
I cursed. Jadis had tried to kill Rory. Again. “You’re leaving first thing in the morning.”
Rory’s smile faded as he nodded. “And I’m taking you with us.”
I shook my head. “No, Rory. You’re not.”
The heart rate monitor started beeping rapidly as Rory and I locked eyes in a contest of wills. “This isn’t a discussion.”
“If I go, I’ll make you and Tara a bigger target,” I reminded him. “And that’ll defeat the entire purpose of you leaving.”
“You’re leaving with us, and that’s final,” Rory ordered.
My heart ached. A part of me did want to go. Just leave and not come back until Uma and Brody took care of Jadis. But I couldn’t, wouldn’t leave the guys. And Jadis would only follow me. “I can’t.”
“Yes, you can,” Rory decided. “This isn’t a fight you’re in, it’s about you. You don’t have to be here.”
I rubbed my temples, trying to alleviate some of the tension that had been building. “Maybe. But I’m not leaving.”
“Dad.” Tara drew his attention. “She needs to stay here and deal with it. You can’t make her—”
“The hell I can’t,” Rory roared. “You will get in that car tomorrow.”
“No, I won’t, Rory. I won’t risk your lives any more than I already have.” I met his gaze. “I can’t leave.”
“We’ll talk about it at home,” Rory grated harshly.
“Rory.”
He held out his hand, trying to block out my words.
“If I go with you, I’ll probably get you all killed.” I shook my head, as my throat went dry. I had to make him understand. “I can’t do that to you guys. I won’t.”
“Dad. Please, listen to her,” Tara pleaded. “She knows the situation better than we do. If she says it’s too dangerous, it’s too dangerous.”
A vein ticked in Rory’s temple as his heart rate monitor continued to race. As he looked over at Tara, his eyes softened. “We can’t just abandon her. Family doesn’t do that.”
“It’s not abandoning me.” I sat down at the end of his gurney. “It’s about getting you guys out of harm’s way.”
“Lexie …” Rory sighed and seemed to search for patience.
“Rory, I have to stay and see this to the end,” I said. “I don’t have a choice here.”
“But you do, you can leave with us tomorrow,” he countered.
“And probably get you killed,” I all but hissed. “If we leave, and Jadis comes at us with everything she has, with Lucy we’d have a good chance against witches. But if there are shapeshifters, we’d be nothing but meat to them. An easy meal.”
Rory flinched. “I’m not a civilian.”
“But you don’t have supernatural abilities, Rory,” I reminded him. “Once you ran out of ammo you’d be done for. And these people, they won’t just kill you, Rory. They’ll torture you first to get to me. And not just you, but Tara too. Don’t make loving me be the reason you die.”
Rory was silent for several heartbeats before he sighed. “I want to speak to Uma and Brody. I want to know what their plan is to protect you.”
“Okay.”
His eyes were shadowed as they met mine. “I don’t like this, Lexie.”
My smile was humorless as I looked at him. “Neither do I.” I gestured over my shoulder. “Let me go tell the guys you’re okay.” With a heavy heart, I turned and headed out to the emergency room waiting area to tell the guys.
Chapter 7
“What is going on down there?” Jake’s voice made my head pound.
“Look, I’ll explain everything when you come down.” I sighed as I paced in front of Rory’s house the next morning. The guys were helping pack the SUV with Rory and Tara’s stuff when I got a call from Jake.
“Why can’t you explain now?”
I grimaced. “Because we’re trying to get everyone out of here and Rory suddenly has a bug up his ass over taking me too.”
“Hurry up, Asher!” Zeke shouted from beside the SUV in the driveway. “They need to get on the road today.”
“Tara’s got like ten suitcases!” Asher called back from inside the house.
“And I have to have every one of them!” Tara shouted, laughter in her voice.
“So, Tara and Rory are leaving?” Jake asked in my ear.