The Zeuorian Awakening (18 page)

“Don’t worry about him.” Everett leaned against the doorjamb. “You can stay here as long as you need to.”

She looked around the living room with its drab white walls and dirty brown carpet. The room had no furniture same as the kitchen. “So, where am I supposed to sit?”

“In my room,” Everett said, walking into the kitchen as she followed him. He took a quick left and proceeded up a narrow staircase to a long hallway. Outlines where old family photos had once hung riddled the walls as he continued down the hall to the first door on his left.

Lexi waited by his side as he unlocked his bedroom door, the only room in his house worth protecting from intruders she assumed. “I’m afraid to ask what type of furniture you have in your room. Is it solid or inflatable?”

“Definitely solid.” Everett opened his door and pointed to his new cedar bedroom set with matching computer desk. “I had an air mattress when I first moved in, but after a day I had enough and broke down and bought this.”

“Nice,” she said, entering his room after him.

“Don’t mind the mess.” Everett kicked dirty clothes under his bed. “I haven’t had a lot of time to clean up.”

“I gather.” She motioned toward three empty pizza boxes stacked next to his computer desk and several empty soda cans scattered on the floor. “Well at least you kept your desk clean.”

“I’m normally not this messy, but I’ve been distracted,” he said, hinting he’d been busy watching after her.

Lexi noticed several video screens open on his computer monitor and motioned toward it. “Do you have video surveillance?”

“Ah, yeah.” Everett rushed over to his desk before Lexi could get a better view of what he had on the screen and turned it off. “I wanted to make sure no one could sneak up on me.”

Why did she have a hard time believing his excuse. He was hiding something from her. Lexi eyed the monitor before continuing to check out his room.

“I see you also bought new carpet and a weight set.” She walked over to it. “Why do you have your weight bench next to the window? It would fit better along the wall next to your bathroom door.”

A sheepish expression swept over Everett’s face. “I like the view.”

“What view?” She stared across the street at her bedroom window. So he liked watching her while working out. “What exactly have you seen in my bedroom while you lift weights for hours on end?”

He raised his eyebrows. “I don’t work out for hours on end.”

Yeah, right, he doesn’t work out for hours on end. She ran her hand along the worn-out weight gloves and scanned every inch of his rock-hard body.

“I guess I do spend a couple of hours a day lifting weights while you’re at home.”

“But you’re avoiding my question. What have you seen in my room?”

“Hardly anything.”

She glanced across the street and saw everything in her room, from her desk to the closet door, except for her bed. Her mind raced over what he may have seen on any given day in the past week, from the time she got dressed in the morning to the time she walked around in her underwear before going to bed.

“So, what exactly did you see while watching me from your window?” she demanded.

“Nothing.” Everett plopped onto his bed and acted as if it was no big deal. “I closed my eyes when you took off your clothes, but there was this one time you had on these pink lace underwear and—”

She threw a weight glove at him and he ducked out of the way. “Oh, you’re so full of it. I don’t even own anything pink.”

“I swore it was pink, but I could’ve been wrong,” he said with a playful tone.

Lexi opened her mouth and closed it before saying anything else. She wasn’t going to get suckered into another gag at her expense. She decided to ask him the questions that had been burning in her mind for the past couple of hours instead.

“So why are the half-breeds hunting me and want me dead?”

He took his time before answering her. “’Cause they fear your power will go to your head like the other Zeuorians and you’ll try to kill them.”

“They’re trying to kill me on the pretense I may turn evil. That’s extreme.”

“Not really. If you understand what they went through.” He blew out his breath. “See, for many centuries, half-breeds and Zeuorians lived in harmony until the Zeuorians changed. Each new generation of Zeuorian grew more powerful than the one before. Some might say they grew too powerful for their own good.”

“Like how I made all those accidents with my powers,” she asked, taking a seat beside him on the mattress.

“That’s not what they were referring to. A war broke out among the half-breeds and the Zeuorians. Some surmised it started when Zeuorian’s power went to their heads, but no one knows how it really began only how it ended.

A Zeuorian woman with a unique gift to control armies used it to her advantage and wiped out all the Zeuorians weakened during the war. She made herself the queen of our world, but she quickly learned several half-breeds weren’t influenced by her gift.”

“Oh, I think I know where this story is going,” Lexi said, recalling a movie with a similar plot she watched not that long ago. “She became scared the half-breeds would try to overpower her. So she decided to kill them before they did anything to her.”

Everett nodded. “The half-breeds she couldn’t control went into hiding. They relocated to Earth and hid amongst the humans, but that didn’t stop her from chasing after them. She sent her guards to hunt them down. My grandfather and a few others banded all the half-breeds on Earth together and created a secret society called The Community.”

“The Community.” Lexi’s face puckered. “What a terrible name.”

“Yeah, I know.” Everett raked his fingers through his hair. “Everyone thought it would be safer if we called ourselves The Community instead of half-breeds so none of the humans would catch on to what we really were.”

“But still, they could’ve come up with something better than
The Community
.”

Everett rolled his eyes. “Anyway, we fought back and many of us were lost while fighting her guards. Mostly we lost female half-breeds since they’re more powerful and a bigger threat to the queen than the men. After several months of fighting, we managed to kill the queen’s guards and shut the portals to Earth.”

“I don’t understand. If all Zeuorians were killed, except the queen and the portals were closed, how did I end up on Earth?”

“We don’t know, but apparently not all the Zeuorians had died for you to be alive. We suspect either your mother opened the portal or she used a first-generation half-breed to open one.”

Lexi thought about what her mother said in her memory. “It had to be my birth mother who opened the portal, since she closed it right after killing the queen to prevent anyone else from attacking her.”

“Your mother killed the queen? Damn, this changes everything.” Everett stood and paced the room several times before turning back to Lexi. “You’re in more danger than I realized.”

She sat up straight. “Why? I figured the half-breeds would be excited knowing the queen is dead and no longer hunting them.”

Everett knelt in front of her and cupped her hands in his. “Your powers will be far greater than the queen’s since your mother had to be born the same time as her making you the next generation Zeuorian. With the queen still alive, some of our people were willing to let you live despite their fears so you could protect us from the queen, but if they learned the queen is no longer a threat to us . . .” He dropped his head and let his words dangle in the air.

She didn’t have to hear the rest to know what he’d left out. Everyone in The Community would want her dead, especially since she was the last Zeuorian. Then they’d never have to worry about being threatened by her kind ever again.

She lifted Everett’s face and stared directly into his eyes. “But don’t they realize I’m not some super villain out to take over the world and kill them?”

“They aren’t willing to risk finding out.”

“Can’t your father tell them to leave me alone? I mean, he must have some pull since your grandfather was one of their co-founders.”

“Actually, my father is their leader.” Everett diverted his eyes from Lexi’s. “But he can’t force The Community to accept you. He’s not that type of leader. He needs the majority decision from The Community before he can pass any laws. Right now The Community is divided over killing you. They’ve only managed to pass a couple of laws preventing anyone from hunting or helping you.”

“I can tell how much they care about those laws.”

She thought about the half-breed who killed her parents even when they were no threat to him. He could’ve used his mind control and made them watch as he killed her. Instead, he had her parents kill themselves in front of her. If they could be cruel to the humans raising her, what would they do to the son of their leader when they learned he’d been protecting her?

“They’ll either kill me or turn me in to The Community for committing treason,” Everett said, answering her thoughts. “Hopefully, it won’t come to that.”

She took his hand in hers and stared into his eyes. “Tell me the truth is there any way possible I can convince the half-breeds to trust me?”

“My father believes there’s a chance he could convince The Community you’re not a danger to them, but it may take time. Until then, you’ll have to stay hidden and avoid causing any more accidents.”

“What if I can’t stop causing more accidents?”

“Shh. Everything will be okay.” Everett ran his thumb along the cut on her wrist. “You’re not alone anymore. You don’t have to face the half-breeds by yourself. I promise you. I’ll do whatever it takes to keep you alive. You mean everything to me.”

“Is that the reason you came here?”

“Yes.” He lifted her hand to his face and pressed his lips to her skin. “And protect you from the half-breeds after your awakening.”

“Why didn’t you come sooner?”

“I tried.” He drew in a deep breath as he stood up. “I went to your parents’ house right after you left Colorado, but when I got there, you were gone and I didn’t know if you were dead or alive.”

“Obviously that didn’t stop you from looking for me.”

“I wasn’t going to stop searching for you until I had absolute proof you were dead.” He let out a heavy sigh of relief. “When I did finally track you down, I wanted to hop on a plane and go to you that second.”

“So you just figured out where I lived?”

He shook his head. “I discovered you were living in Brookings when you were sixteen.”

“I don’t understand.” She rubbed her temple. “Why did you wait a year to come see me?”

“I would’ve come earlier if I could.” He gave her a sad look. “Someone started a rumor after you left Colorado that my father had been protecting you and knew where you were. They’ve been following us ever since, hoping we’d lead them to you. I had to wait until I went to college so none of the half-breeds would suspect I was going to see you. I didn’t even tell my father what I planned to do.”

Lexi stood next to Everett with a desperate look on her face. “But the half-breed following you figured it out, right?”

He nodded. “I thought I did a good job making the half-breeds believe I left early to get situated at MIT before classes started, but I guess he didn’t fall for my lie.”

“So you knew I was the Zeuorian when we first met?”

“Not at first. I thought you were a half-breed until after I realized my father couldn’t see my future while we were together.” He thought for a minute. ”Honestly, I don’t know how I missed it. You had four abilities and half-breeds our age only have two.”

“What do you mean? I only had two when we met: telepathy and premonitions.”

“You also could block me from pushing memories into your mind and my father from seeing my future when we were together.”

If Everett could guess she was the Zeuorian by the number of her abilities, then others may have been able to guess too while she had been visiting Colorado. That meant they would’ve known what she looked like and who her parents were. They may even be able to track her to Irene’s house.

“No one else knows you’re the Zeuorian.” He drew her into his arms and hugged her tight. “Your parents kept you away from everyone while you were in Colorado. Well,” the corner of his mouth twitched, “except for me.”

She shot him a playful smile. “I guess I must’ve made a good impression for you to spend the past two years waiting to be with me and risking your life to protect me.”

“You can say that again.” He cleared his throat. “Actually, I would’ve waited my entire life for you, if that’s how long it took to find you. You’re the only person I ever want to be with.”

Her breath caught when he scooped her into his arms and bent down to kiss her. A bright light flashed outside and illuminated the room. She could barely contain herself and wanted to lose herself in his kiss, but a faint buzzing noise caught her attention.

She felt her back pocket and sighed. “I have to take this call.” She pressed the cell phone to her ear. “What’s up?”

“Are you alright,” Irene asked, alarmed. “That boy didn’t kidnap you?”

“Why would you think that?”

“Tyler came by the hospital looking for you. He said you drove off with a strange boy. I thought you may have gone looking for the boy behind my back. So did you?”

Tyler. Lexi gritted her teeth together. He was seriously annoying her. By the look on Everett’s face, he felt the same as her. She muted her phone and asked, “Can I tell her the truth?”

He shook his head. “The less she knows the safer it’s for you. A half-breed could use her thoughts and memories to determine you’re the Zeuorian. Honestly, she already knows too much as it is.”

Lexi didn’t know if he had been stating a fact about Irene knowing too much or suggesting he needed to wipe her memories. Whichever, she wasn’t ready to discuss it with him. Instead she unmuted her phone.

“No I didn’t go looking for him,” Lexi said to Irene. “Tyler was mistaken. I drove Angie home. Her VW wouldn’t start. I’m over her house right now. He must’ve thought Robert got into my car since he stopped me from driving away so he could give Angie a kiss.”

“Oh. That’s all,” Irene said, her voice more relaxed. “I just thought when he came by—”