Page 66 of Aleko
Pellos stared at them, seeming to count all of them. He opened his mouth and his jaw cracked loudly. He shook his head and then looked around the circle of faces again.
Alex fell backward and then climbed into the chair by the side of the bed. He leaned forward and put his head between his knees. He felt light-headed.
“Alekos?” Pellos’s voice was gravelly and cracked.
“I’m good. I just need a minute,” said Alex, reaching out his hand. Pellos took it and held on while Alex tried to breathe.
“Let me see,” whispered Yazmin, peering around Hudson’s shoulder.
Pellos frowned at her, clearly puzzled. Then he looked around the circle again.
“Where’s Lia?” he demanded.
The hospital linoleum had little flecks of blue in it. Alex sat up and inhaled. He couldn’t afford to be sitting here. They had to focus on… something. Probably not the linoleum.
“Where is Lia?” Pellos repeated.
“I threw her out,” said Alex, trying to keep any emotion out of his voice.
“What? Why?” demanded Pellos, sounded shocked.
“She shot you,” said Alex.
“No, she didn’t. That fucker Seth Reda shot me.”
Alex was silent, and then he looked at the rest of the pack. Sebastian visibly shrugged.
“Um, Seth died on theStrumwolke,”Alex said cautiously.
Pellos took a firmer grasp on Alex’s hand and pulled himself to his feet. He staggered slightly and looked around the room. “What did you guys do? I feel really weird and you all smell… a lot. Not bad. Just a lot. And Hudson smells like he’s been making out with…” His eyes focused on Yazmin. “You. Who are you? Does anyone else want a gyro? Or maybe just the whole lamb spit?”
“I think it worked,” whispered Hudson, still staring intently at Pellos. “I always want to eat the lamb on the spit like a kebab.”
“And you two have been making out,” Sebastian whispered back.
“Well, those are good clues,” said Yazmin in a normal tone of voice. “But I was going with the fact that the bullet holes are gone.”
“We need to find Lia,” said Pellos, yanking off his bandages, as if they were an annoyance. Alex saw that Yazmin was right, the wounds were gone. Pellos looked at his IV as if he couldn’t figure out why it was there. He yanked it out and Alex watched the hole close over. “And then we need to put a fucking bullet in Seth.”
“Pellos,” said Alex, “Seth died.”
But Pellos was already shaking his head. Then he grabbed onto Alex’s shoulder for support and blinked as if things weren’t quite stable.
“No. Luca is Seth Reda. He’s been playing us this whole time.He betrayed Howell and the team. He wanted the warlock magic for himself. And now he’s back.”
Episode 35
The Artifacts
Alex
“Gods, I’m so hungry,” said Pellos, pulling on his t-shirt as he entered the kitchen. Alex had already fed him all the protein bars he kept in the car. With his regular clothes on, Pellos looked more himself, and Alex felt the worry in his chest start to ease. Alex reached into the fridge and began to unload leftovers, cold cuts, hard-boiled eggs, and anything else that looked immediately edible. Pellos grabbed a fistful of the cold cuts, shoved it in his face, and then reached for the left-over lamb roast. Alex pushed the fruit bowl on the counter at him too.
Getting Pellos out of the hospital had been half a chore. Alex was pretty certain that his reputation as the Devil of Kavala had taken on some new color when the entire pack, including Pellos, walked by the nurse’s station. The doctors and nurses had fussed and tried to get in their way. All Alex could think to say wasbill me.Not his finest moment.
Yazmin and Hudson had disappeared into the basement to look at the Egyptian artifacts. Alex had taken one look at the dried blood that was still on the floor and gone directly upstairs.
“I could make you a sandwich. Do you want me to put something on the grill? What about some pasta?” Alex opened the fridge and stared into it again. “Pizza? I could make biscuits. You don’t want biscuits. What am I saying? You probably need more meat. I always want protein and sugar when I’m healing. A cake?” Alex turned around and looked around the kitchen in a panic. He wasn’t prepared to bake.
