Page 52 of Deep Within Me
“No,” Diaz cried, “the trip would kill him.”
“Doesn’t matter,” Jacob said.
Diaz shouted, “How can you say that and claim to be a man?”
“Easy,” Jacob said, unfazed by the outburst. “Even if your cousin dies, Dr. Munez can reanimate him.”
A moment passed before Diaz reacted, his eyes rounding. “What?” He gripped the lip of the table and leaned forward. “He and Liz can bring back the dead?”
“Not Liz,” Zeke said. “She can’t help you.”
“Yes, I can.”
Zeke turned at her voice, stunned to see her standing in the doorway to this room. How long had she been there? How had she even found this spot? It was supposed to be impenetrable behind a maze of halls.
He pushed out of his chair so quickly, it rolled away from the table on its casters and smacked into the limestone wall. The lighting in the room brightened momentarily from the furniture’s contact with the stone.
Liz’s expression noted that and the stains on Zeke’s jeans from Carreon’s man spitting at him, before she again focused on Diaz. “Where is Pedro?”
“No,” Zeke snapped. “You’re not doing this.”
“I want to,” she said, her voice achingly soft.
It drained Zeke’s anger, turning it to desperation. “No.”
“I’m sorry,” she murmured, “but you can’t stop me.”
“You actually believe that?”
“What are you going to do, Zeke? Lock me up? You want me to let a child die? Not even try to heal him or bring him back?”
Yes.He wanted to shout it but couldn’t. He didn’t want anyone harmed, would have given his own life to make certain that didn’t happen. All he asked was to have her safe and with him always.
His vision said otherwise, unless…
Zeke recalled something Liz had said days ago when he foolishly believed she could help the clan’s little ones if they fell ill or got injured. It was what he’d told his people when they were deciding whether to let her and her father stay. “You don’t heal children, remember? You don’t know what your power will do to them.”
“Pedro’s no child,” Liz said. “He appears to be in his early teens.” She asked Diaz, “How old is he?”
“Thirteen.”
“What difference does that make?” Zeke muttered. “He’s still a kid.”
“He’s already reached puberty,” Liz explained. “It’s not the same as if he was an infant or a toddler. His body’s changing, maturing. That should give him some protection against the force of the gift.”
“And what if it doesn’t?” Zeke argued, going to her. “I can’t let you do this. You know damn well why.”
Diaz spoke to Jacob. “What are they talking about?”
“Quiet,” Samuel growled.
Liz touched Zeke’s mouth. “I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t at least try. You understand that, don’t you?”
Of course he did, but that didn’t change anything.
Liz brought back her hand and went around the table to Diaz. “How far is Pedro from here?”
Before he could answer, Zeke spoke to his men. “Liz doesn’t leave this stronghold, understand?”