The Zeuorian Awakening (23 page)

She unlocked the door and opened it. “Do you really believe you’ll be able to wipe his memory before Stephan listens to his thoughts?”

“It’ll work.” Everett pulled her into the dark kitchen and shut the door. “As long as I can hold Tyler long enough to push a thought into his mind.” He drew her closer to his body. “I’m going to sneak out your bathroom window to be safe, but first . . .”

He cupped the side of her face and leaned forward. Lightning flashed outside her kitchen window as she closed her eyes in anticipation of what was to come next.

He kissed her on the forehead. “I better go before someone notices the weather or Stephan finds me over your house.”

“Wait.” She grabbed his wrist and stopped him from leaving. “You don’t have to take it that slow and kiss me like my father used too. I can handle something more intense.”

She wasn’t going to let him waste this moment playing it safe. For all she knew tomorrow could be her last day alive. She pulled his face to hers and kissed him. Their lips met, and with that touch, an electric current shot through Everett, and whatever he’d just been worrying about faded away.

His lips moved with hers, gentle at first, and then hard and hungry. He pressed her back against the wall, crushing his body against hers and knocking the air right out of her lungs. She ran her fingers through his hair while enjoying his desperate, breathless kisses filled with fear, longing and passion. Until a loud explosion jolted her back to reality and she broke apart from his passionate embrace.

Breathing heavy and teetering toward Everett, she debated daring to take a chance to feel his lips and warm body against hers again. By the look on Everett’s face, burning with passion and concern, he was torn the same as her.

But she couldn’t take the chance. No matter how much she wanted to be with Everett and man did she want to be with him. She didn’t want to risk leading Stephan to her over a couple of hours of passion even if tomorrow would be her last day. She didn’t want to chance Everett or Irene getting hurt or killed because of her.

Everett ran his fingers through his messed up hair. “I should go now before I don’t.”

“Yeah you should,” she said with a deflated tone to her voice. “Irene will be home any minute now.”

“No matter what you think,” he brushed a few strands of hair off her face, “we’ll have many more days together, if I can help it.”

“You promise.”

“Promise.” He kissed her forehead. “Just to be safe. Don’t block your thoughts. If he does a sweep of the area with his telepathy, he may be able to pinpoint you that way.”

“What if I need to talk to you telepathically?”

“You should try to avoid it at all cost, but if it’s the only way to get hold of me, use a code name. I’ll be calling you Angel.”

“I suppose I can call you Fox, like in the TV show.” It seemed fitting, considering she was an alien and he wanted to foil a major conspiracy. Although this certainly wasn’t a TV show. This was reality and others were hunting her.

“One last thing. Remind your aunt and Angie not to think about what you can do. Don’t tell them anything else about your abilities or me.” He hesitated for a moment. “Actually, I think it would be safer if I wipe their memories.”

“Can we give them a day and see how they do blocking their thoughts before you decide to erase their memories?”

She enjoyed having Irene and Angie to confide in. She didn’t have to constantly worry about hiding her abilities from them. And she had a feeling Irene may know more about her than she realized. She would never be able to question her if Everett wiped Irene’s memory.

“You have a point about your aunt,” Everett said. “I should hold off wiping her memory. I don’t see any immediate danger of Stephan reading her thoughts unless he does a scan of the neighborhood. Angie, on the other hand, it’ll be too dangerous to let her remember what you can do. Stephan is more than likely going to do a sweep of everyone close to me at school, including Angie and you.”

Lexi hated to admit he was right. Angie knowing the truth about her would be just as dangerous as Tyler with Stephan hanging around the school looking for her. “Okay, you can wipe her memory,” she said with a sad tone to her voice.

Everett kissed the soft spot on the inside of her wrist, lingering for a minute before he said, “I’ll see you tomorrow morning at school. Meet me there at 7:40 A.M. and have Angie meet us there at the same time.”

She agreed with a forced smile and watched him walk up the stairs. Once he disappeared into the darkness of her hallway, the smile quickly faded as a nagging thought in the back of her mind bubbled to the surface:
What if Stephan already knew she was the full-breed
?

Lexi read on her cell phone for the second time, “Meet me beside the cafeteria by the bushes.” She surveyed the area for any sign of Everett, but she couldn’t see him anywhere. However, her premonition was warning her someone had to be close by.

Slowly she walked toward the bushes, searching for anyone standing behind them. When she came within a few inches of the branches, she spotted Everett staring back at her with a grin dancing on his lips.

She couldn’t help smiling despite being upset at him. “You almost scared me to death. You should’ve said something instead of letting me think Stephan was standing behind the bush.”

“I can think of something else I would rather do than scare you to death,” Everett said, pulling her into his arms.

“I bet you can.” She ran her finger along his lips and remembered how it had felt to kiss him the other night. She wouldn’t mind kissing him again, but first they needed to take care of Tyler. “Did Stephan follow you?”

The corners of Everett’s mouth turned down as he loosened his grip on her. “Yeah, he followed me, but I managed to ditch him near the beach and left my car there so he wouldn’t realize I took off. I figure I have at least a half-hour to erase Angie’s and Tyler’s memories before Stephan discovers I’m at school.”

“Angie will be here soon,” Lexi said. “I haven’t text Tyler yet. I wanted to wait so I didn’t appear too eager to meet him, but I’ll do it now.” She lifted her cell phone and entered a text message, “Meet me near the cafeteria entrance in 10. We need to talk.” She hit the send button and then said aloud, “Now let’s see if he’s willing to talk to me.”

“Oh, he’ll talk to you. I’m sure of it.” Everett pushed a strand of hair behind her ear. “He’s not the type to walk away, especially from someone like you. I know I wouldn’t.” Her phone buzzed and he grinned. “See what I mean? He didn’t even make you wait for his reply.”

“Okay, so you’re right.” She lowered her eyes to avoid the smug look on his face and read Tyler’s text message aloud to change the subject. “‘I’m already on my way.’ . . . Damn, I’d better go find Angie before he gets here.”

“Wait.” Everett grabbed her waist before she could step out from behind the bush and drew her closer to him. “There’s something else I wanted to talk to you about.” He tried to suppress a grin. “Did you pack your bags and place them in your car?”

“Yes. I’m ready to leave for MIT.” She stroked the side of his face covered with beard stubble. “But if you can’t wipe Tyler’s memory, I’m not going to leave Irene. I’d rather die than let Stephan hurt her like the other half-breed had done to my parents.”

“It’ll work,” he insisted. “And then we can go to MIT and continue with my original plan.”

Her phone buzzed. She read aloud another message from Tyler, “I picked us up breakfast. Be there in 5.”

“I should go now and find Angie.”

She stepped out from behind the bush as Angie walked around the corner of the building, clutching her Gucci bag. “There you are,” Angie said, her voice squeaked in excitement. “I can’t take the suspense any longer. Do you know who your Watcher is?”

Lexi glanced at Everett, peeking around the bush at her. She didn’t know how to tell Angie about Everett erasing her memories. She stammered, “Uh, um, no that’s not why I wanted to meet—”

“Oh, my, God, it’s Everett.” Angie stared at the bush. “But why is he hiding? Is he planning on hurting me?”

“No.” Lexi lifted her hands and motioned for Angie to calm down. “He only wants to erase your memories of me being an alien so no one can use your thoughts to find me.”

Angie shook her head. “My father’s going to kill me, but I rather you hear it from me than find out when Everett can’t erase my memories of you.”

“What are you talking about?” Lexi asked.

Angie moved closer to Lexi so no one could hear her talk. “I’m a half-breed.” She glanced around the area before continuing. “I can block others from controlling my mind. I would’ve told you earlier, but my father wouldn’t let me. He said it would be safer for you since he’ll be able to keep an eye on you without any half-breeds realizing it.”

“That’s how you knew I could read your mind after a week of us hanging out together.” Lexi backed up to distance herself from Angie. She didn’t know how to take Angie being a half-breed and debated whether Angie could be a friend or foe.

Everett stepped out from behind the bush and blocked Angie from moving closer to Lexi. “Go stand by the wall while I talk to Angie,” he said to Lexi.

No way. She wasn’t going anywhere. She took a few steps before pretending to dig in her backpack so she could listen to what Angie had to say.

“Do you or your family want to use Lexi?” Everett said in a threatening tone. “Is that why your father is protecting her?”

Angie dismissed the notion with a wave of her hand. “Lexi is like my sister. I wouldn’t do anything to harm her and neither would my family. They adore her and believe she has the right to live on Earth like everyone else. They’re willing to help make that happen despite The Community’s law prohibiting anyone from helping the full-breed.”

Everett didn’t move an inch. “So why are you here?”

“We left The Community when I was a year old and moved to Brookings.” Angie watched a boy walk by before continuing to say, “My parents knew a few people who lived in town. They offered to help my parents hide from The Community since they broke the law having a baby before the legal age.”

Lexi moved closer to Angie, but Everett kept his body between them. “Did you know who I was the entire time?” she asked.

Angie pressed against Everett, sandwiching him between Lexi and her. “When we first met, I thought you were a half-breed and somehow ended up being adopted by humans. I didn’t realize you were the full-breed until your looks changed. My father, on the other hand, told me recently he always suspected you were the full-breed, but he didn’t want to tell me until he confirmed it.”

Angie shoved her long fingernail into Everett’s chest and spoke in as low and menacing tone as her high-pitched voice would allow. “I’m pissed at you. You should’ve told Lexi right away who you were instead of scaring her. I contemplated having her run away, because I thought you were one of the half-breeds hunting her until she told me you were protecting her and a boy she met in Colorado. Then I knew you had to be someone close to her. I thought at first Tyler could be the boy, but I’m not surprised you ended up being him. The vibes you’d emit when you were next to Lexi—oh, man.” She fanned herself. “So, are you two together? ’Cause I’m getting some strong vibes between the two of you.”

Lexi glanced around the area and did her best to ignore the eager look on Angie’s face. Everett stood still and concealed his emotions, but they couldn’t fool Angie. She blurted out, “Yes, you two are—”

“Don’t say it,” Everett said sternly. “You can never tell anyone about us. They’ll use me to find her and for that matter, they’ll use you, too, if you ever reveal what you are to them.”

“I know. My father already gave me,” Angie made air quotes with her fingers, “the lecture.”

“How do you know about us?” Lexi asked.

Angie shot her a mischievous smile. “I’m also an empath. I can sense and control emotions, but I’m a third-generation half-breed and definitely not as powerful as you.”

“You can control emotions, hmm.” Lexi pushed her way around Everett so she could speak more privately with Angie. “Did you ever try to manipulate my emotions?”

“Well.” Angie lowered her head and picked at her cuticle. “I may have tried a few times. You were so sad after your parents died. I wanted to cheer you up, but it never worked, except the one time.” She hinted to the night of the beach party.

No wonder Angie felt guilty when she told her that kissing Tyler had made her cause the massive storm.

“What exactly did you make Lexi do with Tyler?” Everett demanded. “Because I know something he did scared her enough to run away from him.”

Lexi gave Angie a look that screamed, “I never told Everett about what really happened the night of the beach party and I didn’t plan on telling him, now that we’re together.”

“I may have pushed her to kiss him, but nothing else. I swear.” Angie stared Lexi in the eye. “It’s the truth.”

Someone had to push her to do far more than kiss Tyler. If Angie hadn’t been able to manipulate her emotions before, then someone else had to push her into almost sleeping with him.

The more she thought about that night, the more it made sense. She’d felt like a puppet as someone pulled her strings.

Could Tyler be a half-breed, too?

It would explain why he hadn’t been terrified when she deflected the lightning. She asked Angie, “Why did you think Tyler could’ve been my Watcher? Is he a half-breed?”

Everett gripped Lexi’s shoulder and turned her toward him. “You think Tyler used some kind of mind control on you.” His eyes narrowed, full of rage as he stared at her jeans. “That’s why you ran and your zipper was down. He tried to make you sleep with him, didn’t he?”

Damn. Lexi kept forgetting to block her thoughts. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “He didn’t try to force me to sleep with him. I was a willing participant because of the damn power controlling me. I ran as soon as I could break its hold on me. Nothing else happened between us.”

Everett raked his fingers through his hair as he thought for a moment. “I think you’re right about Angie not controlling you. You were doing it?”