4. Well, This Ain’t Awkward
CHAPTER 4
Well, This Ain’t Awkward
Zeke
T he concoction that fills my mouth smells great but has the weirdest aftertaste ever. It’s like tasting your favorite dessert and being able to savor it for a brief moment before you get punched in your ribs, taking your breath away. What kind of voodoo horse shit is this? It’s probably something Levi would pull with Ryker’s influence. Even though it is infuriating, I can’t stop drinking until it’s gone, and even then, I find myself licking the inside of the cup.
“Feeling better?” Knox asks. I can hear the concern in his tone as he eyes me up and down before handing me a cloth to wipe my face.
“Y-yeah. What the hell happened?” I ask, wiping my face clean and looking around the unfamiliar room. The fact I seem to be missing a chunk of time sends uncontrollable anger unfurling beneath my skin like a pressure cooker, and I’m on the edge of blowing up. Where is this coming from?
“What do you remember?” Levi asks as he straightens his tie.
“Well, I don’t remember you wearing a damn suit. How long have I been out? Why was I drinking this?” I ask, holding the empty mug to the side. An emotion starts to rise within me and threatens to block out everything as a faint memory plays in my mind. I’m thrown into darkness and into a cage where I can’t move, see, or breathe. That’s the emotion choking me to death: fear. I’m paralyzed with it.
Is Cain back? Did he somehow take over my body again?
A bone-chilling numbness crawls over me as my lungs squeeze the last drop of air out of them, and I feel myself become weightless. Black spots start to encroach on my vision as my body overheats.
“ Mon Amoureux , listen to me. Cain isn’t here.” The faint sound of JP’s voice penetrates the darkness but does nothing to stop it from slowly pulling me in. “Zeke, focus on my eyes and listen to my words.” I feel someone squeeze my shoulders. “Cain is gone. Remember what L.A.M.B. and Lilith said? He has his own body. Yours is free to command as you wish.” Two blurry specs move before me, and I latch onto them with all my might, knowing they are my lover’s eyes. “We were fighting the Gatekeeper's monster, and Knots got hurt. You smelled his blood, and it sent you into a slight blood lust.” Hearing those words, my heart skips a beat before it slams into my chest, and before I can ask the dreaded question, JP continues, “And no, you didn’t hurt anyone. You were given that drink to help bring you out of your blood lust. That’s it. It’s not Cain that took over, but your instincts.”
Relief slams into me, and JP becomes blurry for another reason as tears land on my hands. My body trembles uncontrollably, and someone gently pries the mug from my grip. I latch onto JP and bury myself into his neck.
“Shhh. It’s okay. We’re here for you,” JP whispers as he squeezes me tighter.
“Yeah, Z. We wouldn’t let that asshole take hold of you again.” I chuckle at Knox’s words. Pulling away from JP, I quickly wipe away my tears. I give him a watery smile as I look around the room and finally notice who’s here or, more importantly, who’s missing.
“Where’s Knots, Lynx, and Rez? Probably more importantly, where the fuck are we?” I wonder, still feeling a little shaky but trying to direct the attention off of me.
“Lynx and Rez went to check on Knots, and we’re inside the Gatekeeper’s place,” JP fills me in. “Most of us have already cleaned up. Do you want a turn in the shower?”
Wondering where they freshened up, I glance around the room right as Ryker steps out of a door, and I catch sight of a shower behind it. Washing the grime off of me does sound appealing . “Yeah, that sounds like a good idea.” I stand up, but before I can move, a piercing noise filters out, shocking me.
“What’s that noise?” Knox asks, jumping up from his seat.
I don’t stay to debate, following the sound out of the room. I hear the others follow as I jog down a short hallway and into an open-concept living room where a tall man with tan skin and blond hair is partially hidden by a massive fireplace. Lynx is frozen in place in front of the structure. Motion catches my eyes as I find Rez bolting up behind him. Before I can say anything or announce my presence, the man turns and presents Lynx with a bundle of wriggling limbs.
“Lynx, meet Tempest, your sister,” he says with a wide smile.
Lynx’s eyes widen as he eloquently cusses before hitting the floor like a sack of lead.
Sister? How did Lynx get a sister and does that mean this man is related to him? Is this his dad? I’ll have to ask when truth bombs aren’t being dropped on us.
I don’t know which shocks me more. The child’s gold-rimmed sapphire eyes or the fact she took out her older brother just by being alive.
“She needs to teach me her ways,” Knots says.
I catch sight of him stumbling out of a room and catching himself against the doorframe. Rushing over, I help support the angel’s weight and swing one arm over my shoulder as Knox takes his other.
“Easy there, big guy.”
Knots chuckles and gives us his thanks as we help him to the closest chair. I’m punched in the gut by the gauze dressing along his temple. I’m horrified how something so small almost sent me into a bloodlust where I would have drained him dry, and who knows what would have happened next. Would I have attacked everyone else? Am I a threat to them? Am I a monster? Am I no better than Cain? Maybe he was?—.
“Stop!” JP says forcefully, squeezing my arm and bringing my attention back to him. I swallow the lump in my throat and try to give him a reassuring smile, but I don’t have the heart or energy to muster the lie. It seems like I have more demons than I knew, and I’m not sure how to deal with them.