Death Before Daylight (23 page)

Everyone in Hayworth knew she killed herself
on Independence Day. It was the reason I didn’t understand Eric’s
love for the holiday, but perhaps, it was his only connection to
the woman who gave him life.

My hand snaked up to my shirt, and I grabbed
her ring through my shirt. “Did she want me gone?”

Bracke whipped his face toward me before he
shook his head. “Quite the opposite, Jess,” he said. “She wanted to
adopt you herself.” When he steadied his head, a frown broke his
expression. “I wanted you gone.”

My heart slammed into my chest.

“My wife’s struggles, they didn’t begin with
Eric or you,” he paused to take a breath. “She was a good woman.
Perhaps, too good of a person.” He rubbed his forehead. “She didn’t
want you two to go through the pain of the prophecy, and I—” His
voice shook. “I’ve made mistakes thinking I could control it,
thinking I could control Eric.”

When Bracke stood, I saw a man who had only
tried to protect his family.

“You should know Eric made sure we wouldn’t
hurt you before he told us anything,” he said and straightened his
shirt. “He’s on your side, and so are we.” He took two steps toward
me before he looked at me. “I’m only sorry you thought we might not
be, but I cannot blame you.” He laid out his hand, and I took it
before he helped me stand up. “I can’t blame him either.” His grasp
dropped from mine. “I see her in him.”

“What was she like?” I asked.

“She was beautiful.” A smile broke his lips,
but it twitched. “But even the most beautiful people can have ugly
insides,” he said. “I love her anyway.”

Love. He hadn’t stopped loving her, and he
had always loved Eric.

“I suppose that’s why I left him to Camille.”
He spoke about his son as if he had lost him, too. “I didn’t want
to find out if he didn’t just look like her.”

“I think you should talk to Eric before you
talk to me about this,” I stopped him before he could continue. Her
ugly insides—whatever they were—weren’t something for me to know
before her son knew about them.

Bracke’s bottom lip hung open before he
snapped it shut. He nodded and laid his palm on top of my head in
the same way Eric touched me. “You saved him from me,” he said and
dropped his touch. “Thank you.”

He turned toward the door, but I called after
him, “You’re a good father.”

When he froze in the doorway, he laid his
hand on the doorframe. “I appreciate that, Jess,” he said toward
the hallway, “but I have a lot to fix before I can believe that.”
He only glanced over his shoulder once. “Please, let me know if you
need anything at all.”

His voice trailed over the room as he left,
swerving to the side. I didn’t know why until Pierce ducked by.
“Hey, Bracke.”

The elder walked away, ignoring my guard and
disappearing into the corridors of the shelter I had yet to
explore.

Pierce leaned into the hallway to watch him
before he leaned back into my new room. He ran a hand through his
black hair. “What’s with him?”

“I don’t know.” I dragged my bags over to the
wardrobe.

Pierce followed me, but for other reasons. He
leapt onto my bed and bounced up and down like a child. “This hotel
gets five stars.”

I cracked a smile. “What are you doing here?”
Unlike Eric and me, he had to go to school. If he was here, it was
only because after-school activities had released. He normally
stayed after to paint in art club, but only when Urte didn’t have
training planned.

“Thought I’d welcome you to the lair.”

I chuckled, but gestured toward the painting
easel. “You’ve done enough.”

Pierce didn’t follow my movements. Instead,
he pointed to the doorway. “Plus, he wanted to see you, too.”

“Hey, Jess!” Brenthan stumbled over himself
as he ran into the room. If it weren’t for their age gap, the
brothers could’ve been twins.

“Hey,” I said as Pierce’s little brother
leapt onto my bed, too.

“Yep,” he agreed. “Five stars.” He grabbed a
pillow and pretended to fluff it. “Maybe four.”

Pierce laid a hand on Brenthan’s head.
“That’s enough, kid,” he spoke through a smile. “You do have
training.”

“Fine,” he grumbled and ducked away from
Pierce’s touch. “You’re really going to live here, though?”

I nodded. “But you’re not supposed to know
that.”

“Like anyone could hide it from me.” His
scrawny chest poked out. “Don’t you know? I’m a warrior now.”

Pierce leaned forward and pushed his
brother’s back. “And warriors train,” he said. “Go beat someone
up.”

“I’ll win,” he declared before running off.
“See you later, Jess,” he called over his shoulder before
disappearing into the same hallway as Bracke.

Pierce stared at the doorway like his brother
stood there. “He still acts like a kid sometimes.”

I sat down next to my guard. “You say that
like you aren’t one.” Like me, he had a summer birthday. We
wouldn’t be eighteen until after graduation.

“Eh,” Pierce brushed off my words, but his
face fell into an expression he rarely held. He was about to be
serious. “Why didn’t you tell me about the realm?”

I looked at the floor. Showing my powers
hadn’t just shocked the elders. “I should’ve,” I admitted. “I know
that.”

“Just overwhelmed?”

I nodded.

“You’ll be fine.” He bumped my arm with his.
“You know, Camille struggled with her powers, too.” He stumbled
over her name. “But she got through it, and I know you will,
too.”

I had to brush my hair back to see him. “Why
do you say that?”

He cocked a grin. “Because you’re a
badass.”

I hit his arm.

“Come on.” He laughed, and didn’t speak again
until his laughter died. “I saw you fight in battle. You did better
than I did.” He leaned back on his hands. “I’m sort of jealous.”
When he looked up at the ceiling, he shook his head. “You even
broke Darthon’s neck once.”

The memory of our first battle was clouded
with the fact that Darthon had stood back up afterward. Only Eric
could kill him. Unless someone killed me. Then, Darthon would die.
Darthon had been telling the truth back then, and he was still
telling the truth. Through Eric, he was telling more than the
truth. The illusion wouldn’t stop us from figuring it out.

“Do you think Darthon is trying to break us
up?” I asked.

“I know he is.” Pierce leaned forward, but
his face twisted. “He probably thought you’d go running back to him
once Eric left you.”

I huffed. “I’m not that desperate.”

“He seems to think so.”

My hands curled against my knees.

“I know you’re hiding something from me,”
Pierce’s words sounded far away, even though his thigh touched
mine. “But you can tell me when you’re ready.” When I looked up, he
smiled. “I won’t force you like Luthicer did.”

My next breath felt lighter than the previous
ones. “Thanks, Pierce.” Despite everything, I couldn’t tell them
about the suicide attempt, especially after I spoke to Bracke.
Eric’s mother had been a loss to everyone, and confessing that I
had tried to mirror her movements wouldn’t be easy for anyone to
hear. The Dark had done enough by accepting the fact that I was
also a light.

Pierce stood up as if our conversation was
over, but I grabbed his forearm. “Wait.”

He looked back. “Yeah?”

“Thanks for the easel.” I pointed to the
home-warming gift. “It helped.”

Pierce looked up, but his eyebrows shot up
like he hadn’t seen it before. “I didn’t get that for you, Jess,”
he spoke through a grin that practically split his expression in
half. “But I could guess who did it.”

When he gestured to the desk, I saw the other
gift I had overlooked before. A Picasso book. Eric was the one who
had welcomed me home.

31

The morning clouds bumped over the horizon
and left Hayworth High in a hazy mist. Overnight, February had
arrived as silent as my illusion, as present as my nerves. When my
Charger’s engine rumbled beneath me, I squeezed the stick shift. I
didn’t want to be at school. I wanted the Dark to order us to stay
away—that it wasn’t worth the risk—but my father had forced me.
Even then, I could drive away. I had that much freewill. But it
meant abandoning Jessica at school, and I couldn’t do that.

I searched the parking lot for Crystal’s car,
knowing she would probably be with Jessica, but it wasn’t present.
It was too early. The only car I recognized was the one that pulled
up next to mine.

Robb’s Suburban.

He didn’t meet my eyes until he got out of
his car. I locked my doors, but he knocked on the window. His
knuckles smeared the glass. Even then, I didn’t unlock my
doors.

The air sparked as he disappeared, only to
reappear in my passenger seat. A blast of hot air burst through my
vehicle, and I sucked in a breath as his powers died down. Unlike
shades, lights could use their abilities whenever they wanted
to.

“I don’t remember inviting you in,” I
grumbled, facing forward.

“I’m not a vampire, Welborn.” He blew air
into his hands. It was cold outside. “Where were you two
yesterday?”

“I don’t have to tell you—”

Before I ever saw it coming, his fist smacked
across my face. “Answer me.”

I grabbed my chin as the pain radiated up my
jaw. Blood dripped off my lip and onto my lap. “If you get blood on
my car—”

“What? Your daddy will get you a new one?”
Robb growled as his seat leaned back. He stared at the ceiling.
“You’ll heal in five minutes anyway.”

“Not as a human,” I managed to gain the
feeling back in my face. “Or don’t you know how shades’ powers
work?”

He glanced over, but his neutral expression
didn’t shift. “I know they’re not working like before.”

I stared at the boy I had once considered a
friend. His face hadn’t changed much in three years. The skin below
his eyes had deepened, but I imagined mine had, too. It was from
the lack of sleep, the training, the death. If he had killed his
parents, I hadn’t heard of their deaths, but I was with him when
his dog died. It was the only time I had seen him cry. Now that I
knew he was the one to do it, I didn’t know how to accept the
memory. It seemed just as impossible as his identity as Darthon—but
he was. He was the boy I was destined to kill. He had killed
Camille.

I had to tear my eyes away to speak. “My
powers are just fine.”

“Mine, too.”

“So are Jessica’s.”

Robb sat up, and the chair snapped into place
with a crunch. “And?”

“And you wanted to know about us,” I pointed
out, knowing it was my best move—for once—to follow his orders.
“The Dark is forcing us to live in the shelter.”

He couldn’t attack us all to get to her, but
he chuckled. “Wait. Wait. Wait.” He laid his hand on his chest.
“I’m controlling your speech, and they’re controlling your
actions?” His laughter was louder this time. “Don’t you just love
being a pawn?”

“They’re forcing Jessica, too.”

My words stopped him. His face hardened.

I made my next move. “She told them.”

“Told who what?”

“Don’t act stupid,” I said. “The Dark knows
she can be a light, too.”

His skin drained of color, and for a moment,
his complexion mimicked a shade’s. “She wouldn’t tell them
that.”

“She did.” He might have been able to silence
me, but he couldn’t force me to tell the entire truth. I was the
one who told the Dark, but he wouldn’t know that. He would only
know what I told him. “And they aren’t going to hurt her, so give
up, Robb.”

When I said his human name, he flinched, but
leaned back like he could cover it up. “If they won’t push her
away, you will.”

“I already broke up with her.”

“And you transferred out of homeroom,” he
finished. “Nice touch.”

I grinned. “So, Fudicia told you.”

A light shattered throughout my car, only to
dissolve into the backseat. The blonde girl appeared as she slowly
melted into her human form. Her soft face was nothing like her bony
appearance as a light, but her smile was just as threatening. “I’d
prefer if you call me Linda.”

Her powers wavered enough for me to know the
Light was struggling, too. “Using your powers so openly?” I
chuckled at Robb. “You are getting desperate.” The Dark was
winning.

“Call it what you want,” Robb muttered. “I
don’t care.” He reached into his sweater pocket and pulled out a
cigarette. “You mind?”

“I do.”

He took out his lighter and lit it anyway.
The orange end burned as he dragged and pushed out the smoke in my
direction. “Have you spoken to your father yet?”

My fist tightened, but I held back the urge
to hit him. I wasn’t allowed, and I couldn’t win if I attacked him
during the day. If I were going to kill him, I would have to wait
for an opportunity at night.

I reached for the door handle to leave, but
the metal burned my palm. Air hissed out of my mouth as I let go.
My flesh was red.

“It’s rude to leave in the middle of a
conversation,” Robb spoke at my back.

“We haven’t talked yet,” I snapped and
twisted toward him. “What else do you want?”

“I want you to get a new girlfriend.”

I huffed. “That’s not happening.”

Robb’s eyebrow rose. “You have to follow my
orders.”

“I’m done, Robb.” I hovered my fingertips
over the handle, but the metal radiated with heat. Darthon wasn’t
done yet. “You can’t kill me,” I added, “and once I find you at
night—alone—I will kill you.” It was only a matter of time before I
found a way, but he wouldn’t find out what was protecting me. His
pride was too blinding.

Linda leaned forward and laid a hand on
Robb’s shoulder. “He knows what’s protecting him.”

She was the one I should’ve been worrying
about. Apparently, my pride had blinded me, too.