They wandered through several long hallways until they came to a door that looked like all the others. Lexi memorized the room number, hoping she would remember how to get here.
Helen opened the door before Zach had finished knocking. She wasn’t caged or starved or hurt. She looked . . . fine. Lexi stood there confused, trying to add this new piece of information to the puzzle.
Helen didn’t wait for Lexi to catch up. Instead, she rushed out of the door, past Zach and grabbed Lexi for a hard hug.
Lexi hugged her back. After a month of worry, she’d finally found Helen—the best friend she’d ever had. It was a sad comment on her life that a woman she had served dinner to a couple nights a week back at Gertie’s Diner for a total of three months was closer to her than anyone else since her mother, but there it was. Plain and simple. She’d missed Helen so much, and now they were together again.
It wasn’t until Lexi felt the cool streaks on her face that she realized she’d been crying. She pulled away and swiped at the tears with the back of her hands. Helen did the same, though she gave Lexi a watery smile.
“I’m so glad you’re here,” said Helen. “We’ve been so worried about you.”
“Worried about me? You’re the one who got whisked off by a group of scary men.”
Zach cleared his throat. “I’m going to leave you two alone to catch up. Helen knows my number if you need me. Otherwise, I’ll find you later.”
Helen grabbed Zach around the neck and pulled him down for a hug of his own. She smooched his dark cheek and said, “Thank you for bringing her home safely. I owe you.”
“Then stop kissing me before Drake sees and cuts off something of mine I like.”
Helen laughed, patted Zach’s chest and took Lexi’s arm. “I don’t want to see you for at least two hours—got that?”
“Yes, my lady,” said Zach, his voice warmed by his grin. He touched the side of Lexi’s face, barely grazing her skin. Happy tingles slid down her throat and settled low in her stomach. “After you’re done talking to Helen, after you’ve figured things out, then you and I are going to have some things of our own to discuss.”
Lexi wasn’t sure if it was a promise or a threat, but she found herself looking forward to being alone with Zach again. Which made her crazy.
“We haven’t eaten, so I’ll have some lunch sent up for you both,” he told them,
“Breakfast for me, please,” said Helen. “It was a late night.”
“The wall?”
Helen nodded. “Yeah. Unfortunately.”
“Right,” said Zach. “Breakfast it is.” Then he picked up the bags and walked back the way they’d come.
Lexi watched him go, enjoying the sight of his long, easy stride, the way his muscles flexed under his snug jeans. He was so finely built that she still could hardly believe he was real, much less that he wanted anything to do with her.
“That’s a mighty fine sight,” whispered Helen.
“Amen,” said Lexi.
Zach disappeared around the corner, and Lexi was finally free of his pull. She gave herself a good mental shake and said, “Okay, let’s get you inside and see if we can undo whatever brainwashing these Sentinels have done to you.”
Brainwashing?
Helen gave Lexi a long look as they went inside her suite. Clearly, Lexi had some issues that needed to be ironed out. At least she was here, safe and sound, and Helen was able to do the ironing.
“Nice place,” said Lexi. “Is anyone else here?”
Helen looked around at the suite. It was actually pretty plain, but neat and tidy. She’d been living here for a few weeks, and kept meaning to decorate the place, maybe repaint a couple of rooms, but she just hadn’t had the time. Whatever excess energy she had, she’d been pouring it into that freaking wall, imbuing the stones with the power to hold them together against whatever the Synestryn might throw at them next.
Who knew that magic could be so exhausting?
“No, it’s just us. Drake is in a meeting with some of the men.”
“Ah. The boys’ club.”
Helen rolled her eyes. “They can have it. I sat in once and my eyes glazed over in about thirty seconds. They can drone on for hours about maps and strategy and whatnot. All I need to know is where are the monsters they want me to set on fire.”
Lexi gave a low whistle. “You? Set things on fire?”
Of course Lexi wouldn’t believe it. When they’d first met, Helen had been terrified of cigarette lighters. Heaven forbid someone put a birthday candle on her cake. She’d freaked out more than once over the sight of a flame, but now things were different.
Now, fire was her weapon of choice.
She opened her palm and called a small flame to her, using the invisible river of power flowing into her from Drake. The orange puff of fire flickered in her hand, barely warm against her skin. “Things have changed,” she told Lexi. “For the better.”
Lexi’s knees buckled and she sank to the couch in shock, her eyes wide. “Wow. Okay. Not at all what I expected.”
“I imagine there’s going to be a lot of that for you for a while. I’m still getting used to all this stuff. Some of it is really far out there. You should see this lady, Gilda, in a fight. It’s like watching a freaking anime cartoon or something.”
“How many women like you are there here?”
“A few. Me, Gilda, Andra and her sister, Nika, though she’s not well. We’re all hoping she pulls through.”
“And Miss Mabel is here, too, right?”
“Sure,” said Helen, letting the flame in her hand dissipate in a puff of smoke as she joined Lexi on the couch. “We can go visit her in a little while, but first, tell me what’s happened to you. Why are you worried about me being brainwashed?”