Chapter 25
ZEKE
Eden
“Woah, woah, woah,” Bella snaps. “We’re where?”
“Keep your voice down,” I whisper as sternly as I can. “I’m not supposed to be in here anymore.”
Over the last few days, Luca has had me off doing one of two things. One, I’m either on complete lockdown in my old room with zero access to any type of technology. The dick even yanked the tv off my wall.
Or two, he sends me and Ivan on another stupid errand. He says it’s for the trials, but I know better. Hell, I helped the guy create the trials and not a single one of them needed Ivan and I to fly to Philly for three damn days.
I think he just likes sticking me with needles full of toxins so he can watch me crawl back to him begging for an antidote. That and the fact that he’s mainly keeping me away from her as much as possible while he reenacts all of his highlights of a life with Izzy that never existed to begin with.
It’s sick.
The worst part though, is that Bella is getting really good at playing the part of the loving girlfriend. So much that sometimes I worry how much of my sister is actually left. But then the little drama queen smarts off at me or slips up on her Izzy impersonations and I calm down.
She’s still in there. I’m just not sure how much more of this she can take.
He hasn’t touched her yet, not like the ways he did with me. He wants her to remember and doesn’t want to scare her or force her. Funny how he didn’t seem to give one single shit about scaring, forcing, or breaking my body and soul at the same time and then leaving me the second he—
Chill, Zeke. Not the point.
Anyway, I couldn’t take it anymore. So, I found one of Luca’s old anxiety prescriptions and mixed it with his wine tonight. Had to get some way to knock his ass out long enough so I could sneak back into her room.
I didn’t have a choice. She needs to know. And soon before the next trial. It’s our only hope to getting the fuck out of here.
“Yes,” I confirm. “Eden is in Ditmas Park.”
“What the hell?” she shrieks.
“Shh,” I hush.
She rolls her eyes. “What do you mean we’re in Ditmas Park?”
“He moved Claire and me in last summer,” I answer, my voice rough. “How do you think Knox found that foreclosed house in Ditmas Park for your Krolek mission?”
Her eyes widen. “That was you?!”
“Yep. I wanted you close by.” I nod. “Claire and I made this plan.”
I stop myself. Heat rises in my veins as the vision of her hazel eyes that night shoots through my memory in a flash. Her goodbye. The feel of her hands as they wrapped around mine. The blade piercing her flesh.
“It was a good plan,” I confirm. “But… it didn’t work.”
“What do you mean?” she presses, leaning in.
“I mean that’s the night,” I whisper, my voice starting to rattle. “That’s the night Claire died.”
“What?” she gasps, tears pooling at the rim of her steel eyes.
“When he found out that you and… well when you were…” I trail off, the words unraveling. “Jesus fuck, I’m sorry.”
She lays a hand on my thigh. It does nothing to stop it from shaking. “You’re not making any sense. Just tell me what happened.”
But I’m already back there. The image sears into my skull before I can stop it.
“Don’t let him change you,” she whispers. Her soft fingers wrap around my trembling hand, tightening it around the blade. She peers around and glares at the monster behind me. “And don’t you dare let him win.”
“No,” I whisper, my voice barely there.
“I love you, Zeke.”
She presses one final kiss to my forehead.
And pulls.
Bella’s steel eyes come back into focus. “Zeke?!”
“Sorry,” I whisper, shaking myself out of it. “It’s my fault she’s dead.”
“What happened?” she asks again, softer this time. “Just tell me.”
I nod. “Luca put two and two together about me putting Ditmas Park on Knox’s radar when Krolek told him he was meeting you that night. They made a plan to take you right then and there but Tex—”
“Tex took him out before they could get to me,” she whispers, looking off as if she’s replaying the night in her head.
“He blamed me for everything. Krolek’s death, you not getting to Eden when he wanted, and messing up his precious timeline by forcing him to bring Jack back into your life.”
She scoffs. “Forcing him?”
“Yeah. Apparently he never wanted Jack to resurface for you, but with Krolek dead and the NYPD calling, he couldn’t just ignore it.”
“So that’s somehow your fault?” she bites, her voice bitter. “We killed the guy, not you.”
I shrug. “Never said his logic was solid.”
“No shit.”
“Look,” I continue. “All I know is that after that night, Luca came back to the house pissed. He got drunk and—” I exhale as a tear slides down my cheek. “He had Claire killed.”
“Oh my God,” she whispers, her fingers grazing her cherry-red lips.
“He took her away from me.” My voice fractures.
I can’t bridge the gap between the memories and the words and I start shaking.
“I lost myself. I tried, Bells. I fucking tried to hold on. For you. For h-her.” I rake a trembling hand down my face.
“I wasn’t strong enough. He just… he just broke through. ”
My sister’s there in an instant, a warm shadow in the dim light pulling me into the hollow of her shoulder. “Shh,” she whispers. “It’s okay. I’m here.”
“No.” The word comes out jagged and raw. I shake her off, my head spinning. “The things I did… the things I let that bastard—”
“Hey,” she cuts in, tightening her grip on me. “Stop.”
“NO!” I surge upright, tearing out of her reach. “You don’t understand what it’s like to have someone…”
The sentence dies as I pivot. I throw my entire weight into the mural.
CRACK.
The drywall groans under my fist, white dust puffing into the air like a dying breath. My knuckles throb, buried deep in the ruin of the wall.
“Zeke!” She’s on her feet. Her voice is a hushed but terrified hiss. “What happened to staying quiet?”
I don’t answer her. I let the wall take my weight, my spine scraping down before I hit the floor. She kneels down in front of me. Her fingers are soft and gentle as she takes my hands in hers, being careful not to squeeze my split knuckles too hard.
She sighs. “What’s your name?”
I glance up at her. “You know my name.”
“Humor me,” she whispers through a small smile.
“Ezekiel Malik Blackwood.”
“You’re my brother, my family. My hero,” she says, gently picking pieces of drywall out of my skin. “Nothing that’s happened here will ever change that. You understand me?”
“I’m no hero,” I mumble under my breath. “Not anymore.”
“That’s bullshit,” she snaps, gripping my chin and forcing eye contact. “How many kids have you saved over the years? Because I know I’ve lost count.”
I pull away. “That’s not the—”
“Do not interrupt me right now,” she cuts in sternly.
“Sorry,” I whisper.
“You are the biggest hero I’ve ever met. You’ve rid the world of some of the worst monsters out there. Plus, you given countless numbers of children and young women their lives back. And let’s not forget that you saved one very important person.”
“Who’s that?”
“Me.” Her gaze softens as she squeezes my hand. “You saved me, Zeke.”
I let out a bitter laugh. “You don’t look all that safe right now.”
“No,” she admits with a cocked brow. Her devilish grin slowly starting to grow. “But we’re together. And that alone is one very dangerous combination for the dickbag who’s holding us here.”
She pushes herself upright and reaches her hands out to help me to my feet. “Now, before you dropped that Ditmas Park bomb on me, you said you had an idea. So let’s hear it.”
“Right,” I say, plopping back down on the bed. “In about three days, Cade will have to do his second art project for Luca. I didn’t realize the first time that the videos were live. I thought he was just going to video us well you know… when we—”
“You thought he was what? Just gonna make a porno of us and show my boyfriends later?” she asks, gagging.
“Yeah,” I admit, scrunching my nose. “Anyway, I was wrong. He made them watch it while it was happening, so I’m guessing he’ll do that again.”
“Your point?”
“My point is that it gives us an advantage.”
“Us?” she asks, her voice a high pitched shriek. “You mean he’s gonna make you and me? Eww gross not again.”
“Depends.”
“On what?”
“Cade,” I say, shifting my weight on the bed to face her better. “He’s going to force Cade to make a choice. And this time, depending on which one he chooses, I’ll enter the room or Luca will.”
Bella leans back against the headboard, running a hand through her hair. “So you’re saying that if he chooses wrong, Luca’s going to come in and… no.” She shakes her head frantically.
“I don’t know what he plans to do with Cade’s choices,” I admit, flexing my aching hand. “But I don’t think he’ll actually hurt you. He wants you to fall in love with him too much to risk that.”
“Well that’s just great,” she grits. “When do we get to the part of your plan that doesn’t involve me being mounted by my brother or my psycho uncle?”
“Well,” I mutter. “I can’t really promise that one of those things won’t happen.”
She lets out a deep and obnoxious sigh, rubbing her temples like she’s trying to dull a monster of a migraine.
“But,” I continue. “Now that we know he’s live streaming this shit, you can get the guys a message.” I grab her by the hands and get her to focus on my next words.
“You can tell them where we are.”