Page 50 of Karma
Zane holds her hair back, and she tries to push him away. The last thing she wants is his help, but she has no strength left in her. She resigns to let him assist her.
“Lex!” Undertaker shouts and runs over. “Are you okay? Holy shit.”
Falling back, she leans against the wheel of the car. “I have a concussion. Broken ribs. Probably more.”
“Can you ride?”
“That’s a negative. I don’t think I can sit up unassisted,” Lex says and swallows.
“He brought you to my old house?” Zane asks. “Why? Is he the one who sent me those creepy notes?”
“Long story,” she mumbles. “But yes. We were all going to die here. Together, apparently. I feel drunk in the worst way.”
“She’s slurring,” Undertaker says. “This is bad. He threw her in the trunk of the car.”
Walking around to the back, Zane opens it and shakes his head. “He broke the emergency release latch. But she did kick out a taillight. That was smart. Wait, am I reading this right? Does his license plate say Fun-Ash-One?”
“F-U-Nash-One,” Undertaker says. “He fucking hates your father so much he tortures and mutilates people who look like you and your sister. The three of you together would have made seventy victims.”
Lex holds a hand up. “No, it’s more. Those are just the ones who turn him on, apparently.”
“Me? He hates me?” Zane asks. “I don’t even fucking know him.”
“You’re the child VP loves,” Undertaker says.
Leaning her head back, Lex looks confused. “How’d my double vision clear up?”
“Your eye is swollen shut, sweetheart,” he says. “I think he might’ve cracked your cheekbone, too.”
“Yeah, I remember that. That hurt. And you do know him, Zane. When you were little.”
“What?” Zane asks.
“Let’s worry about that later,” Undertaker says and kneels down. “How much do you hurt now?”
Assessing her injuries, she winces when she sighs. “Um, I feel sicker than I ache, but I think that’s because I’m pretty sure my head is about to explode. The rest will come later, though. He said we weren’t going to die out here. I’m assuming that means the shop because the house doesn’t look very steady.”
“Let’s check out the house,” Undertaker says. “We’ll be back.”
“No way, José. I’m not staying alone with him. I’m going with you.”
Zane chuckles as Undertaker lifts her into his arms. “She’s not going anywhere on her own, that’s for sure.”
Lex’s head falls against his shoulder, and if she wasn’t in desperate need of a hospital, she’d make an inappropriate joke about how she always knew he’d rock her in his arms. All she needs is a bedtime story, and her fantasy is complete.
“Get her away!” Zane shouts as he leaps from the house he just stepped into.
He pushes them, and she finds herself underneath the largest man she’s ever met, her body cracking and crushing under his weight as a loud explosion nearly bursts her eardrums.
Undertaker covers her head, as pieces of the house land around them. He climbs off her and looks at his hands in concern. “Lex, you’re bleeding.”
“I’m pretty sure there’s more of me bleeding than not. I think I figured out how he planned to kill Zane after he went out with me. Kaboom.”
“Is he dead?” Zane asks, his voice suddenly stern and venomous.
Undertaker shakes his head. “He doesn’t get off that easy.”
“That’s not the way he planned to get off. Ba-dum-bum-ching,” Lex says.
