Lord Protector Novel

A single glance at Yael and his perverted leer at Lacey told Zeke exactly what he needed to know about the lowlife gangster he was dealing with. A fit of different anger was boiling in his chest.

Yael did not get to touch any woman, much less his woman. Zeke’s thoughts were coldly calculating, despite his seething anger. Yael was looking for death.

Without saying another word, Zeke planted his foot into Yael’s stomach with all the force of a spine-shattering kick.

Cursing and swearing loudly, Yael was flung backward. His pathetic threats resounded in the mountains long after he vanished out of sight.

“Just you f**king wait! You ain’t walking out of these mountains alive no more…”

Ignoring Yael, Zeke just took Lacey’s hands in his own, staring into her eyes. Lacey struggled, but it was a futile effort.

“Zeke, let go of me. I don’t want to spread the sickness to you.”

Zeke sucked in a surprised breath. “Lacey, what sickness?”

Lacey stopped struggling. Sighing quietly, she looked out to the vast expanse of the mountains sprawled before them. “Watch the scenery with me, Zeke.”

Soundlessly, Zeke agreed.

Side by side, they sat on the large stone that had been Lacey’s frequent haunt over the past three days.

The early twilight cast their figures into long shadows, stretching forward endlessly. Before them, the sunset turned the towering mountain into a burnished shade of gold. High up here, the wild scenery was chillingly beautiful, a little slice of heaven on earth.

It was in the face of such jagged beauty that Lacey confessed the secret that had been slowly consuming her. “I have cancer, Zeke. The doctor told me it was signet ring cell carcinoma and... and it causes accelerated aging. I’ll be dead in a matter of months.”

She breathed a melancholy sigh. “It’s contagious too. I didn’t want you to get it or see me dying and wasting away. So, I ran away.”

The gears in Zeke’s mind whirred soundlessly, thinking about what Lacey had said. He was well-aware about signet ring cell carcinoma, but something else troubled him.

“But that’s impossible.” Zeke was stunned. “That particular type of cancer has been extinct since the eighties. Lacey, you look healthy. You don’t have any symptoms either, haven’t you noticed?”

He grabbed Lacey’s wrist gently, quickly carrying out a pulse diagnosis.

A moment later, Zeke asked seriously, “Lacey, do you trust my medical skills?”

“Absolutely.” Lacey nodded.

She had personally witnessed Zeke cure brain-dead patients who were deemed permanently vegetative. His top-notch medical skills were nothing else but short of miraculous.

Zeke broke into a relieved smile. “Believe me, you’re very healthy. Forget about cancer, you don’t even have a hint of a cold.”

Zeke left something unsaid, however.

Lacey actually appeared to have been poisoned. It had all the typical witchcraft-like marks of venomous insect poisoning. The mystery, in this case, was that it was a poison that Zeke had never seen before, despite his broad experience.

It was also yet another mystery how Lacey remained unaffected by the venom. Her body had naturally neutralized the toxins in the venom, leaving only traces of it remaining in her system that posed zero threat to her health.

Lacey looked incredibly confused. “How is that even possible?”

She looked aside, lost in thought. “Director Kingston—he was the director in charge of the employee health exams—and the attending physician at the Atheville Affiliate Hospital all confirmed that I had signet ring cell carcinoma!”

“It was very likely that it was a trap, Lacey,” Zeke said gravely. “Both Director Kingston and the attending physician who diagnosed you vanished mysteriously after you left. Someone must have paid them to mislead you so you would leave me.”

It was almost too much for Lacey.

“A true physician has the heart of a parent,” Lacey said angrily. Her face was pale with the force of her outrage. “How could they use abuse their position to torture other people like this? They’re disgracing the entire medical industry!”

“Don’t worry, Lacey. I swear I’ll help you get justice for this, even if it’s the last thing I do.”

He hastily drew Lacey into his arms when she started looking teary-eyed again. Lacey’s sobs rattled against his chest as she said, “You know, I thought I was never going to see you again, Zeke. You really are the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”

He stroked her hair tenderly. “Come on, let’s go home.”

Soundlessly, Lacey agreed.

The two of them were holding each other’s hands tightly, deathly afraid that the other would disappear into thin air if they let go.