Drake Sisters 07 - Hidden Currents

even from her ears. He felt the pain ripping through her head as lesions opened in her brain, but she refused to stop, lashing out at the man who had nearly destroyed her.
    â€œHoly shit,†Kent said. “Look at that. I’m in love here.â€
    Jackson caught El e’s arms and dragged her back against him, pressing his mouth to her ear. “Stop now, El e, or I swear I’l knock you out.
    You aren’t kil ing yourself over him. Stop now, damn it.â€
    El e slumped against him. Don’t let my sisters touch me. Too dangerous. And I can’t bear if they feel what I feel. Promise me. Blood pumped out of her nose. Only you, Jackson, no one else. Swear it or I keep going.
    Jackson closed his eyes. “I swear it, El e.â€

    6
    â€œ THIS is ridiculous, El e,†Sarah said, her voice sharp. “You have to go to a hospital or at least to one of our homes where we can take care of you. You’re not in any shape to stand out here arguing, let alone take care of yourself.â€
    El e kept her arms wrapped around her waist, rocking her body back and forth as if to soothe herself while she looked up at the Drake house.
    â€œI’m not going in there, Sarah.†She shook her head, ducking to hide her expression, but Jackson caught the sheen of tears. “Don’t tel me I don’t have a choice. I’ve had enough of that for a lifetime.â€
    The sisters had been arguing for fifteen minutes and El e was so pale Jackson was afraid she might faint if they kept it up. He took over, using his hard, authoritative voice, one that brooked no argument, one that signaled he meant business—and he did. “You have lots of choices, El e. Stay here in your home. Go to one of your sister’s homes. Go to the hospital or come home with me. Any of these wil work for us, but you going off alone is not an option. Pick something and let’s get it done.â€
    El e felt smal and lost in the middle of her family. The house loomed over her, the windows lit, watching her. They were al watching her. Seeing her.
    She needed to get away from them before it was too late. Her sisters. She loved them so much and she couldn’t do this to them. Not to Libby, who would try to heal her, or Hannah and Joley, who were both pregnant and already sick. They would feel what she’d felt, see the internal damage, not just what was on her body, but the depravity, stamped so deep into her soul she had no hope of washing it away.
    El e looked helplessly at Jackson. They can’t see inside me. Not all of it. Not like it happened.
    You’re wrong, baby, but come with me then. You can’t be alone right now. You know that. You should be in the hospital.
    It hurt to use telepathy. Her head throbbed and ached, but she didn’t want to hurt her sisters any more than necessary. I’m probably pregnant with his child. She held his gaze. Looked straight at him, refusing to look away, wanting to see his rejection, his disgust. Instead his ice-cold eyes warmed and he reached for her. El e stepped back and shook her head. Birth control doesn’t work and he used me . . .
    His gaze slid over her and she shivered a little under the piercing stare, drawing the blanket she was wrapped in closer around her, as if she could hide from him—from them al .
    â€œEl e’s going home with me.â€
    Sarah stepped toward her younger sister, but stopped instantly when El e shrank away from her. A mixture of emotions crossed Sarah’s face and El e looked as if she’d been struck.
    Jackson stepped between them, his body partial y blocking El e from her older sister’s view. “I know this is difficult, Sarah. She needs medical attention, and obviously Libby’s touch to heal her psychic scarring as wel , but right now she needs a little space.â€
    â€œFrom us?â€
    There was a wealth of hurt in Sarah’s voice and he felt El e’s instant reaction, as if in her mind, she’d curled up into the fetal position and held herself tightly. “Sarah,†he lowered his voice, tried to be gentle, inwardly cursing that he wasn’t a gentle man and probably the least equipped of al of them to deal with their combined emotions. “Al that matters right now is El e and what she needs.†He turned and swept El e into his arms before she—or anyone else—could protest.