Page 98 of (Mostly) Human Resources

Eventually, Nic and Alexys separated so they could shower and change into clean clothes. Alexys scrubbed the best she could, but she left the shower still feeling the ghost of blood and dust from the mine. PEC confiscated most of the soiled clothes, but Alexys managed to keep Nic’s sweater. She didn’t trust them to return it to her, and she wasn’t willing to lose it.

Alexys waited for Nic in the living room, fidgeting as she sat there. She knew at some point her brain would properly process everything they’d endured and seen, but for now, it was all too fresh. She worried about the nightmares more than anything else, and how the horrors of the past few days would inform the entity that tormented her.

When Nic finally joined her, her leg muscles locked under the strain of keeping herself seated. His curls were still wet and close against his head. They shared a brief, tired smile, and the knot in her chest eased a little more.

They were given their care instructions for the thousandth time, informed they would be expected back at work for debriefing in two days’ time if they were able, and ushered out the door. A handful of PEC personnel escorted them around the back of Opal’s house and into the waiting helicopter.

Alexys wanted to ask how they knew where they were, how they got there so quickly, but she was too relieved to put Opal’s house and Mercyhill behind her.

Nic took her hand and smiled reassuringly as they were strapped in and prepared for take-off. She squeezed his hand in return, allowing the warmth of his skin against hers to ease the anxious roiling of her stomach.

They were going home. Alexys really didn’t care how they got there or how long it took, so long as they went home.

CHAPTER 52

“At the end of the day, what helps me survive this job is family. Without my loved ones, I would have nothing to keep me going in the field. I would have nothing to come home to. For a Reaper, family is invaluable.”

Journals of Reaper J. T. Cross

Going home alone felt wrong.

After the helicopter ride, the majority of which she slept, Alexys and Nic were dropped off at a private landing field and quickly ushered into separate vehicles. They barely managed a swift goodbye before their cars headed off in different directions. Alexys texted Natalie to be on concussion watch, but her friend was already out on her own evaluation, so they planned hourly check-ins instead.

Walking into her house, the quiet dark was not the homecoming she needed. It didn’t feel safe, either. It felt like invisible eyes watched her, and she made quick work of turning on the lights, double-locking the front door and windows and closing the curtains. Alexys retreated to her bedroom, hoping for a chance to sleep despite Cassandra’s orders.

She expected the emotions to come crashing down on her, to be absolutely swallowed whole by the grief and horror of what she’d been through and what she’d done. But instead of crippling anxiety, Alexys felt completely numb.

Empty.

Just like the Hollow Walker.

She felt so disconnected from herself and her body, too much had been taken out of her that she feared there was nothing left.

When her phone lit up with an incoming call from her mom, Alexys considered declining it. She was too exhausted to talk to anyone, and the last thing she needed was to rehash the details of her field trip, but if she didn’t answer, her mom might assume the worst.

“Mama?” Her voice shook like the broken words of a frightened child. She felt tears prick at the corners of her eyes.

“Lexi Lou, what’s wrong?”

Alexys tried to swallow against the tears constricting her throat. There was something about her mom’s voice that felt like a safe place, even more than her own home, and tore through the numb feeling that had settled over her, freeing an onslaught of emotions. She managed to croak out, “It was a really hard day.”

“Oh, honey, it’s gonna be okay. There’s nothing you can’t handle.”

Alexys choked on something that could’ve been a laugh or a sob.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

She did, desperately. She wanted to tell her mom all about the monsters and witches and horrors she’d faced. About Elliot and Nic and the impossible choices she’d made. The mistakes, the regrets.

“I knew working atEntitywouldn’t do you any good.” Her mom said the word with such disdain. “It already stole your daddy from us, don’t you let it take you, too.”

Alexys felt a single tear roll down her cheek and quickly brushed it away. Her mom was coming from a good place, a place of hurt andheartbreak and love. But she knew she couldn’t really be honest with her about what happened, that maybe no one, other than Nic, would ever really know what she’d been through.

“It’s nothing that serious, Mama, I’m just tired. You know I have trouble sleeping.”

Her mom launched into a lecture on sleep habits and doctors, and Alexys let her. She let her mind wander, back to West Virginia, the woods, the cave, the mine. She wondered what Nic was doing that very second. Was he thinking about her too?

Alexys spent the rest of the night curled up in bed, a dull ache at the base of her skull. Every creak of the house was the Hollow Walker. Every cold draft was Silas at the front door. Between check-ins with Natalie, she slipped in and out of light sleep, the sounds of birds and insects outside her windows disorienting her, and Alexys had to pop her head up every so often to make sure she wasn’t back in the woods.