Page 51 of Come Fill Me

On the edge of the yard beneath one of the cottonwoods,Zeke spotted Kele. She was watching Jacob as he watched Liz, his desire evident. Driven, Zeke knew, by Jacob’s unspoken and endless competition with him.

“The doctor has to leave,” Isabel said, easing her hand from his. “You do know that, don’t you, Zeke?”

A pang of sorrow reduced him to silence. Answering her wasn’t something he could do right now, nor could he acquiesce to the wisdom of what Isabel had said. She was one of his people, but Liz had somehow become his life.

“You have to see that she goes back today,” she said.

Zeke cleared his throat. “No. I can’t.”

She leaned closer so the others wouldn’t overhear. “What do you mean? Of course, you can. You have to.”

“It’s not possible,” he insisted. “If Liz returns, she’ll die. Carreon will kill her. I’ve seen it in my visions.”

Her frown deepened. “She heals his men so they can continue to slaughter our people. Why would he want her dead?”

“Because he’s amoral, a psychopath. Have you forgotten what he had his men do to his own father so he could take control? Have you forgotten what his men did to Gabrielle, Angie, and the other women who were at the birthday party that day?”

“Zeke, easy.” She stroked his shoulder, smoothing the soft cotton of his tee as a mother might, trying to calm him. “Of course, I haven’t forgotten about your daughter and Angie. No one here ever will. I’m trying to look at this realistically.”

“And I’m not?”

She withdrew her hand. “I don’t think you are. Listen to me, please,” she said when he turned away.

On a pissed huff, Zeke faced her again.

Isabel checked to make certain no one was watching them or listening before she continued. “Even if her and Carreon’s shared blood doesn’t mean anything to him, she’s still an asset tohis operation because of her gift. Your vision could be wrong. It could be colored by your feelings for her.”

“My feelings have nothing to do with this. The vision came before I’d even met her, Isabel.”

“But you might be interpreting it wrong.”

“His hands around Liz’s throat choking her were pretty damn clear to me. How else could I interpret that? Why would you want me to ignore it? What has Liz ever done to you that you’d want her dead?”

“What are you talking about? I don’t hate the woman. I never said I wanted her to come to harm.”

“Good. I don’t want Liz hurt either, which means she has to stay here. Not only for her own safety,” he added quickly, “but for the clan’s.”

She frowned. “Her being here puts us at risk. It’s already caused problems between Kele and Jacob.”

Zeke sighed. “Every woman in this clan who’s under forty is competition for Kele. We can’t get rid of all of them to make her happy or to make Jacob love her, can we. Sending Liz back isn’t going to solve that problem. All it would do would put her and the clan at risk. If she returns to Carreon, he’ll threaten to kill her father if she doesn’t reveal the location of this stronghold. She wouldn’t last a second in that situation, any more than you or the others here would when faced with losing someone they love. I can’t allow Carreon to do that to her or to put any of us in his crosshairs.”

Her graying brows continued to lift. “Zeke, listen to what you’re saying, please. Liz was in the back of the van. She couldn’t possibly have seen the route. She can’t possibly reveal something she doesn’t know.”

“Do you think that matters to someone like Carreon? Liz knows of this place’s existence. That’s all that counts. Carreon’s men will search the mountains where they’ve never thought tolook before. It may take them some time, but they’ll eventually discover this place.”

“They might do that in any event. The others have been talking and want her gone today. As soon as possible. That doesn’t mean you have to bring her back to him. Take her to a place where Carreon will never find her, as long as it’s not here. She can’t stay in our stronghold.”

“Why not?” he argued, his frustration turning to the same helplessness he’d felt upon losing Gabrielle. A feeling he loathed and refused to experience again. “Liz can treat the children, making certain they stay healthy. She can heal our men if Carreon attacks them on the outside. She’s what we’ve been waiting for.”

Isabel stepped back. “No, Zeke. She’s what you’ve been waiting for. I see it in your eyes. Hear it in your voice. With her, you’re different than you were with Angie or the other women in the clan. I’ve known you all your life. I’ve seen you sacrifice everything for our people until now. You refuse to believe Liz is poison to our kind. Forget that she’s come between Jacob and Kele; she’s doing the same with you and your own brother. The only person who should count. Doesn’t that worry you?”

“He’ll get over Liz,” Zeke muttered.

“And if he doesn’t? Do you intend to fight him for her?”

If necessary. “It won’t come to that.”

“It already has.” She flung out her arm. “Look at him.”

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