Page 72 of Deep Within Me
“Only an hour and a half.”
Zeke stood so quickly, his chair fell over and smacked into the floor. The prisoners jerked awake at the noise. “How could you have let me sleep that long?” he snapped. “Why did you let me sleep at all?”
“You’re exhausted. We thought…” Rather than finish, Jacob looked at Paul.
“It wasn’t all that long,” the man said.
It was time he no longer had. Carreon wasn’t about to back down at the end of the twelve hours. Neither would Isabel. Zeke had to get Liz, her father, and Jacob away from here before he no longer had the chance.
“Come with me,” Zeke said to his brother then hurried down the hall.
“Hey,” Jacob said, catching up. “Where are you going?”
Zeke ran to his room. He opened the door so hurriedly it crashed against the limestone, causing the walls to glow then flicker like a nightclub’s strobe light. The bed was empty.
His skin crawled. “Liz!”
She wasn’t in the bath. Zeke ran back into the bedroom. “Where is she?”
“I don’t know,” Jacob said, “but she can’t have gone far. One of our men is guarding the stronghold’s entrance.”
“That didn’t stop her from leaving the last time.” Zeke bolted from the room.
Jacob followed at a run. “Only because Carreon’s men had already gotten inside and shot Samuel.” He paused to gulp air. “She’s still here.”
“Where, dammit?”
“Her father’s room?”
He checked. Dr. Munez lay on his side, asleep. Zeke closed the door as quietly as he could, deciding that they’d come back for him later. Given his age, Munez’s pace would only slow them down now. “She must be in the dining room.”
At this hour, it was empty, the area dark. Shafts of light poured from the walls in the kitchen area, creating shadows on the long tables, the numerous chairs. Brief noises interrupted the quiet. The sounds of metal cookware tapping against burners. Cabinets being opened then closed.
Several women looked over as Zeke and Jacob hurried inside, Isabel among them.
Zeke kept himself from shuddering at the sight of her. She didn’t look any different than she always did—always had through the centuries. However, he knew what she was.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
You have so little time,her thoughts had whispered to him as he slept. The beginning of her mind control, her wiping Liz from him forever?
He lied quickly, “Nothing. Jacob and I are just checking to make certain everything’s all right.”
She stepped toward them. It took all of Zeke’s will not to flinch or move back, which would only alarm Jacob and cause him to ask too many inconvenient questions.
“Why wouldn’t everything be all right?” Isabel asked.
One of the other women huffed. She was in her early fifties, her husband, son, and grandchildren living in this stronghold. “He let Kele and Carreon’s brother leave. No telling who Kele will bring back with her this time.”
“Pedro,” Jacob said, his tone as hard as hers. “A kid who needs our help.”
“You should worry about your own,” the woman shot back.
“Kele can’t get inside unless we allow it,” Zeke cut in, his attention on Isabel, not the other woman. “What happened before won’t happen again.”
“It’s getting late,” Isabel said. “You know that, don’t you, Zeke?”
You have so little time.