EIGHT
Victoria was true to her word. At six-thirty that night, she brought him dinner. He tried to shoo her away, but he was eventually forced to give in to her coddling. He was certain even Evans could kick his ass in his current condition. He also knew Victoria needed to do something to help the situation. His sister was a busy-body and never felt right unless she had something to do and four things behind that waiting to be done.
Sebastian ate every bite of his food then forced Victoria to leave so he could take a shower in the adjoining bathroom. The stubble on his face was driving him crazy, and he could smell himself. It wasn’t pretty. He moved carefully, peeling the bandage from his arm, looking at the pussing mess underneath. He carefully faced away from the spray of the shower as he washed, moving gingerly, hissing every time the hot water dripped into his wound. By the time he got out of the shower and shaved, he felt cleaner, but his arm was throbbing. Still, he much preferred this over lying in bed like some kind of invalid.
He changed into a clean sweat suit Victoria had brought him from him from guest stores. He’d be glad when he could get back to his own apartment and his clothing. He didn’t like walking around Temple in the equivalent of pajamas. It was like going to the Whitehouse in a hospital gown.
He walked down the hall to Alex’s room. When he opened the door, he saw Russell sitting next to Alex’s bed, laughing softly at something she’d said. Russell turned when Sebastian entered the room, rising. “There you are. I wondered if Victoria had mothered your ass out of bed.”
Sebastian grimaced. “She tried to, but I drew the line at a shower. There’s no way I was going to let my sister scrub me off.”
Russell chuckled as Sebastian approached the bed. Alex was indeed awake, and she looked a little better than before. Sebastian took the seat Russell vacated next to her bed. “Hello, Alex. How are you feeling?” She only shrugged. “I heard you have questions.”
She shook her head. “They won’t tell me anything.” She frowned as she looked at Russell. “Even him.”
Sebastian looked over his shoulder at Russell, who only grinned sheepishly. Sebastian turned back to Alex. “I’m afraid I’m not going to be able to tell you much more.”
Alex swallowed thickly. “Who are you?”
“Sebastian. I’m Russell’s brother.”
Alex rolled her eyes. “I know that.”
Russell cleared his throat. “I told her that you’re my brother, and she’s in our house under the personal care of our medical staff.”
Sebastian decided that was true enough. “Okay, so you know who I am.”
Alex rolled her eyes, closing them briefly before focusing on Sebastian again. “Cute. You know what I mean. I was right about you. You’re not who you seem to be.”
Sebastian sighed and hesitated. “It might be more dangerous for you if you know who I am.”
“You’re already dangerous. That’s why I’m here.”
Russell started to speak, but Sebastian raised his hand to stop the flow of words. “You’re right, Alex. I am. That’s why I warned you not to follow me. You went against my advice. I’m sorry you have to pay the price of that.”
Alex’s chin quivered as she said, “I don’t understand what happened.”
Russell cursed and walked a few steps away. Sebastian sighed, considering. The truth was, she had to be seriously messed up in the head about all of this. Sure, there’s the demon showing up in the mortal world and all that, which was fucked up enough. Now she was viciously sick, dying maybe, and she had no idea why.
Sebastian pinched the bridge of this nose in his fingers. He took a deep breath and then looked at Alex. “I know. Basically, being near me and Aspen at the same time had some…unexpected medical consequences.”
Alex’s brow furrowed as she gazed at him. “Aspen?”
“The girl that was with us last night.”
“Oh.” She considered this. “What about that…thing?”
Sebastian sat back in his seat and shook his head. “I’m just not qualified to answer all of these questions. Russell?”
Russell came up from behind Sebastian looking just as miserable as his brother. “Yeah?”
“Get Mom, will you?
“Yeah.” Russell turned quickly and escaped out of the room to get Psyche.
Alex looked at Sebastian. “I met your mother. She’s…different too.”
Sebastian just nodded slowly, keeping his eyes on Alex’s. “Yes. She is.”
“She’s the most beautiful person I’ve ever seen.” Her face was lit with awe.
Sebastian just nodded, not sure what to say or not say anymore. This is why Psyche rarely traveled outside of Temples. Mortals just plain couldn’t handle the sight of her. “She is, but she’s still my mother.”
“Am I going to die, Sebastian?”
Sebastian just shook his head. “I don’t know.”
“You look like an angel. Your mom and Russell and that Aspen woman too. I’ve never seen people so beautiful in all my life. I don’t trust beautiful people.”
Sebastian could completely understand that.
“I didn’t listen to you, so now I am going to die. God’s punishing me,” she said.
Sebastian jumped in shock, standing up. “What? No!” He paced around. “This is my fault. I interrupted Russell that night. If I’d let him…” Sebastian realized where his linear conversation was going and dropped off, cursing that he couldn’t explain.
Alex looked at Sebastian. “I want to see my brother. Before I die. I cannot die without seeing my brother.”
Sebastian knew he might have to deny her request. How had he found himself in this situation? He had broken his back and nearly gotten busted trying everything he could think of to stop causing mortals pain, and here he was, putting Alex through misery.
Thankfully, Psyche chose that moment to appear. Hans escorted her to the door, and she entered with Russell and Aspen. Sebastian’s eyes found Aspen’s, an unspoken question in them. Psyche walked to her son, recognizing the look of torture on his face. “Oh sweetie,” she said. “I know how much your duty hurts you. I’m so sorry.” Psyche then moved to Alex’s bedside, standing regally, her blonde hair shimmering. Alex looked awed by her.
“How are you, dear?” Psyche asked.
Alex seemed to shake herself mentally, her eyes wandering until she found Sebastian’s. “I’m scared. I want to see my brother. I want to know if I am dying. I want to know…” her voice broke as the tears she’d been holding back starting pushing forth, tumbling over the rims of her eyelids. Alex knew she was exhausted, or she wouldn’t be feeling so weak. She was embarrassed to be falling apart in front of these people. She’d never felt more alone.
Psyche patted Alex’s hand. “Of course. Of course you want answers.” She motioned to Sebastian and Russell, and they approached. “Sebastian, why don’t you try to explain, in simple terms, what it is we do.” Sebastian turned to look at his mother, his eyebrows raised. Psyche nodded. “Just basic information. She is here in our care, and she’s alone.”
Sebastian sat next to Alex’s bed again, taking a steadying breath. He gazed at the bed spread for a moment, trying to think of the best way to explain. It was like trying to explain chemical engineering to an eight-year-old. When he raised his eyes, Alex was watching him quizzically, considerably more on guard than she had been when he came into the room. Psyche was right. If they didn’t start explaining things, she was going to be hysterical, and they could lose her just over the stress of the situation.
“Okay. Russell and I…all of our brothers and sisters too, actually…perform a service for mor-…for people like you.” He paused here, trying to piece together the next idea into something that wouldn’t sound completely bogus to a mortal, who could only see a tiny slice of reality. Alex just waited, her eyebrows raised. “It is our job to make sure people fall in love.”
Alex just stared at Sebastian, disbelieving. She shook her head. “You’re…a matchmaker?”
Sebastian exhaled heavily, certainly not happy with that mediocre description of his job, but he realized it would have to do. “You could say that.”
“You get paid to make people fall in love?”
Sebastian considered this. “It supports us.”
Alex clearly thought this was ludicrous by the look on her face. “Your whole family does this?”
Sebastian thought of the thousands of his brothers and sisters all over the world, and he knew, again, a simple answer was the best one. “Yes. Well…my…the other side of the family is in another business. They are committed to…balancing out what we do.”
Alex shook her head and looked at the ceiling. She snorted. “They make people break up?”
Once again, a very simple form of the truth, but so be it. Sebastian looked over at Aspen, shrugging. Aspen exhaled, heavily, and turned to answer Alex. “If no one ever knew what it was to be miserable, no one would ever truly know what it is to be in love.”
Alex turned to look at Aspen. “So are you on the love part or the misery part?”
Aspen’s face went blank and cold as she answered. “The misery part.”
Alex swallowed thickly, and Psyche reached over to hand her a cup of water with a straw so she could take a slow drink. After she was done and had repositioned herself on her pillows, she shut her eyes. “None of this makes any more sense than not knowing anything.”
Sebastian sighed and looked down at his feet, his hands fidgeting with each other. “I know this doesn’t explain your condition or why we can’t tell you anything. Basically, you were exposed to both Aspen’s and my blood at the same time. We’ve…made you sick. On accident.”
Alex stared at them both, the wheels turning in her head as she tried to piece things together. “You’re both contagious, and you made me sick?”
“More or less.”
“What about that creature?”
Aspen shrugged. “That creature has nothing to do with us. Bad timing.”
Alex started to laugh, which turned into sobs. “I can’t…”
Psyche approached, laying her hands on Alex’s, gazing at her. “I’m so sorry it’s this hard. I promise you this is not something we’re happy about. This kind of thing has never happened before, and we are just as baffled as you. We are trying everything in our power to make you better.”
Alex looked over her shoulder at Russell. “You had no idea this was going to happen that night?”
Russell jumped, shocked. He approached the bed and took Alex’s hand in his own. “Jupiter, no! Alex, I was there to help you fall in love.”
“With you?”
Russell shook his head. “No. Never with us. We can’t do that. But I was there to give you the gift of love with someone else.”
Alex thought about that and looked at Sebastian. “Until I caught you…”
Sebastian groaned and looked at his feet. “Yeah. I messed it up. If you and I hadn’t started arguing, you would never have wanted to follow me. This wouldn’t have happened.”
Aspen spoke from behind them. “You had no idea what was going to happen.” Sebastian turned to her, surprised, but Aspen continued on. “When was the last time we saw a demon in America? The last one I saw was…” Aspen glanced at Alex and stared at her feet, trailing off. “…a really long time ago.”
Alex’s face registered surprise at Aspen’s spiel. “You guys have been doing this for a while, huh?” They all nodded, even Psyche. “Listen, I just really want to see my brother. He’s the only family I have left, okay?”
All faces in the room looked at Psyche as she considered. “The problem is, Alex, now we’re aware of how dangerous we are to you….to all outsiders. What do you think your brother would say to you being like this and us not being able to give him a detailed explanation as to why?”
Alex thumped the bed with her fist angrily, making everyone jump. “And why the hell is that? It’s my ass in this bed, not yours! You’ve not given me anything but walk-arounds and bullshit since I was carried in the door! You tell me it’s your fault, but you won’t tell me how. Why the hell should I be doing you any favors?”
“Because they’re trying to save your ungrateful ass.” Sebastian jumped as he turned with everyone else to see Mars and Rogan enter the room. Mars approached Alex. “We came in during your little outburst. From what I gather, you’ve been told a lot more than anyone else in your situation ever has been, so maybe you should be grateful.”
Alex’s jaw dropped as Mars approached the bed. “You!”
Mars stopped mid-stride. “What?”
Alex nearly sat up, but winced and stopped halfway up, suspending her pointed finger at Mars. “You were there. I ran into you while I was chasing Sebastian to the alley.”
“What?” Russell turned, and Sebastian jumped to his feet.
Aspen stared in shock. Psyche glanced at Mars before looking back at Alex. “What do you mean? You saw this man before you saw the creature that attacked the three of you last night?”
Alex nodded, and struggled to hold herself up as she gazed at Mars. “Yes. I was running, and he was coming from the other direction, fast. He almost knocked me off of my feet.”
The room sprang into action as Russell pulled his gun and pointed it at Mars. Sebastian reached for his and remembered what he was wearing, cursing. Rogan growled and pulled his gun, pointing it at Psyche. Sebastian moved to stand in front of her. Aspen’s jaw dropped as she looked at her superior. “Mars?” Her eyes begged him to give her an answer.
Mars snarled at Psyche. “That quick, huh? Our alliance falls apart at the mutterings of a bed-ridden mortal?”
Psyche spoke calmly, quietly as she walked around Sebastian to face Mars. “Why were you there, Mars? Why were you running in the opposite direction?”
Russell’s blue eyes flashed with anger as he spat, “That’s how you got there so fast! We were all wondering how you managed to get there before anyone else! You were there the whole time!”
Mars advanced on Russell, “Don’t you go forcing your stupid assumptions on me, Golden Boy.”
Psyche raised her voice to be heard over the arguing. “Mars, I’ve always supported you. We’ve been through a lot together, despite the heat I get for it from my own family. You need to tell us what is going on.”
At that moment, a series of beeps sounded from behind Psyche, and everyone half-turned from the spectacle, their weapons still raised, to see the mortal they had forgotten convulsing on the bed. Aspen ran to push the call button, as Russell yelled, “Alex!”
Moments later, the nurse ran in, as well as several Guardians. In a moment’s notice, they had their weapons raised, pointed at Mars and Rogan. The nurse yelled for back up while Hans dashed into the room, sporting his magically charged Sword of Light, the chosen weapon of all Temple Guardians. Before anyone could blink, he held the sword to Rogan’s throat, forcing him to drop the gun. Aspen yelled while Guardians forced Mars and Rogan to the ground. She dashed to them, but was pulled back by Psyche. Meanwhile, more nurses ran into the room, followed by Garrett, who ran to take care of Alex. The medical machinery continued to whine and beep behind them. Aspen looked dazed as she stared at Mars, who only looked coldly over the whole room. “You have no idea what you’ve done,” he growled as he was forced through the door.
As soon as he was out, Psyche released Aspen, who ran after Rogan and Mars. Russell and Sebastian exchanged glances while Russell lowered his gun then turned to the bed. Psyche addressed Garrett. “What happened?”
The doctor raised his head from his evaluation of his patient. “She’s in a coma.”
Russell looked at Sebastian, his eyes on fire. “What?” He looked back to the doctor. “She was just talking to us!”
“Well, she’s not talking now,” Garrett replied.
Sebastian approached the bedside and sighed. He turned to look at this mother, who had her lips pressed together in a fine line. She nodded once and then looked at Russell.
“Go get her brother.”