When The Grave Calls (The Veil Diaries #9) - B.L. Brunnemer Page 0,78

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Lexie: I’ll be there.

“Ethan.” I tucked my phone back into my pocket. “I have to deal with my ex.”

Ethan turned to me, his mouth a tight line. “Right now? No fucking way. Let Evie find the piece of shit and deal with him.”

I shook my head. “I can’t, he’s got Jake.”

Ethan’s body practically vibrated with the swirl of emotions he had to be feeling. “Fine. Let’s go.”

“I need to do this on my own.” I met his gaze. “I need you to be here to protect the guys. Just in case, somehow, Jadis made it through.”

“Lexie.” He scowled.

“Please?”

He clearly struggled with that for several heartbeats before he nodded.

I kissed Ethan quickly before leaving the hospital.

A strange calm filled me as I hit Evelyn’s contact info before reaching Zeke’s Jeep.

“Are you all right?” Evelyn answered the phone, almost breathless.

“Yeah,” I said in a dead pan voice. “But Dylan has my friend Jake and he wants to meet. This ends now.”

“I can’t interfere with him yet,” she warned. “Not until you have him admit it. Call for Zahur when you do. We’re taking care of the police at the house right now.”

“I will.” I jerked open the door and climbed inside. “Just get to the old abandoned hospital off the highway north of town. I’ll take care of the rest.” I hung up the phone.

As I drove, purpose thrummed in my veins. Dylan had Jake. I had lost the guys—sold my afterlife for them—and this fucker was the last loose end. The entire reason for all of this.

By the time I pulled up to the building, I was ready. To face him. To take him out if need be. It was time to be done with this chapter of my life.

I parked the car. Took Zeke’s flashlight and headed into the decaying building.

I made my way down the rickety staircase, past the vines that covered the damp, moldy walls. A soft glow showed around the half-closed door at the end of the stairs. My fingers tingled, my chest tightening as I pushed open the door. I went still. It wasn’t Dylan.

Chapter 15

“What the fuck?” I muttered as I stepped into the room.

My jaw dropped. Eric leaned against the altar across the dirt floor, draped in a dark cloak.

He grinned. “Oh good, you made it.”

Stunned, I shook my head. “You?”

“Yeah, me.” That grin stretched across his face as he tossed the phone onto the altar.

“Where’s Jake?” I demanded.

“I’m right here.” Jake’s voice spun me around. He was standing in a blind corner near the door.

Heart hammering, I leaned forward to go to him but stopped short. He wasn’t tied to a chair. He wasn’t restrained. I backed away from him. He wasn’t … It clicked. He wasn’t a hostage. “You?”

Jake’s eyes shadowed. “I’m sorry, Lexie.”

I gritted my teeth as I moved back again so I could keep them both in my sight. “Who closed the Veil?”

Eric raised his hand. “That would be me.”

I shook my head. “How? Why?”

“You had it right,” Eric said as he picked up a lighter and lit a stick of incense on the altar. “We were trying to save Dylan’s dad.”

I shook my head, still stunned. “Dylan … isn’t a part of this?”

“No,” Jake said, his voice quiet. “I just got him to grow the flowers we needed for his project.”

My mind was racing as the pieces fell more and more into place. Unable to speak, I just stood, rooted in place.

“I didn’t like it either,”—he swallowed hard— “but his dad is dying, and that man practically raised me. We can’t lose him.”

“You have no idea what you’ve done.” I turned my gaze to Eric as he began lighting candles in a circle on the floor. “And how did you do all this? Where did you learn magic?”

“My mother was a witch,” Eric explained as he turned his back to me and lit another candle. “After she bailed on me, she left enough of her books to put me on the path to finding the right materials.”

“Why?” I bit out between my teeth.

“Because Dylan, Jake and I were all buddies as kids.” Eric straightened and turned back to me. “And why not?”

Rage coursed through me. “Do you have any fucking idea what you did? How many souls you’ve destroyed? How many people have died because of the Veil closing?”

Eric eyed me for a moment. “I’m sorry, did you really think that I ever gave a shit about any of that?”

“You fucking selfish prick,” I bellowed. “You fucked with things