Death Before Daylight (37 page)

I took a breath so my voice wouldn’t shake.
“What about the people?”

He blinked, but it was almost as if his eyes
never closed. His elongated eyelashes drew a thick shadow over his
eyelids. “What about them?”

“What are you planning on doing to them?”

“With them,” he corrected and locked his eyes
with mine. “We will teach them.”

I didn’t respond because I didn’t want to
know what he planned on teaching them. In the end, it would only
kill them just as it had others in the past. Either way, I had
lessons of my own to learn.

“Jess,” he sighed my name as he slid off the
desk. When he straightened, his height caused his glowing hair to
appear as a beacon. “What did the original voyagers gain by sailing
across the ocean? What did Lewis and Clark gain by mapping the
West? What did astronauts gain from space?” He pointed to his
scalp. “Expansion is gain. Deepening knowledge is a necessity.”

I swallowed my nerves. “Even if it causes
war?”

“Even if people die.”

“Even if it destroys their world?” I
asked.

“It won’t.”

“Then, what happened to the Highland?”

A rumble escaped his throat as he rubbed his
forehead. “How do I explain this?” he muttered. “This is sort of a
myth, Jess. It’s based on faith, and it’s an intricate part of our
culture.” His hand dropped from his face. “No one has actually been
there,” he said. “No one that I know of anyway.”

“Because it was destroyed,” I pointed out the
singular fact he had yet to explain.

“You sound like a shade.” His eyes shifted
into onyx slits. “You speak as if we’re monsters.”

“Because monsters destroy,” I interrupted,
“and your legend says you did.”

“Destruction happens everywhere,” he argued,
his voice slowly rising. “The humans had war before we arrived. We
didn’t cause that.” His fingers shook at his sides. “There will be
death no matter what.”

“And there’s no glory in that.”

He leaned his lower back against his desk as
a smile crept over his face. “You say that like you know what it’s
like to execute someone.”

“I do.”

The smile fell off his lips.

I didn’t give him a chance to speak. I would
be in control of our conversation. “I want to prevent as much death
as possible,” I said. “And joining your side seems like the best
way to do that.”

My insides were pounding, but we were both
frozen. In our silence, I wondered what he was feeling. When he
crossed his arms, I knew he was reading me.

“Why should I believe you?” he asked.

“Because they tried to kill me.” The truthful
words were the easiest to say.

Darthon didn’t look surprised. We were
connected, after all. Even though my cheek had healed, I had to bet
his cheek had slit open when mine had.

“So, that’s why you’re here,” he said under
his breath as if he were speaking to himself, but his eyes
explained the opposite. “Do you want to know how to be a
full-light?”

I nodded, knowing that complete absorption
was the key, but not knowing what it entailed. No matter what, I
had to do it.

Darthon unfolded his arms, stretched one out,
and curled his forefinger. “Come here.”

I did. My legs moved forward, and I crossed
the room in four steps. I counted every single one, every breath I
took, and hoped it wouldn’t be my last.

He never moved, even when my toes pressed
against his. I was close enough to feel his warmth radiating off
his chest, and every part of me wanted to know how his scar looked,
stabbed into his flesh.

I had to tear my eyes away from his shirt to
prevent my temptation. He smiled when I looked up at him.

“You were never Named by the Dark for a
reason, Jess,” he said. “You didn’t pick a side, but if you pick
ours, we can give you one.”

“Is that absorption?”

He nodded.

“Then, do it.”

His hands wrapped around my arms, and his
fingertips pressed against me. The pressure felt as if he would
break my skin, but I didn’t move away. The electricity held me
there like gravity.

“Iris.” My name was so close to Ida. “It was
your mother’s Light name, and you can carry it now.”

The Light power filled my veins just as it
had before, but this time, the sizzle was liquefied. The hovering
wisp was the strength of a warrior that held it carefully,
something that laid dormant until it needed to be used fully. It
filled every inch of me.

I stepped back, and my hair flew in front of
my face. My brown curls were white strands of snow. The ends
glittered like silver, and I touched them to make sure they were
real. Just like the books, it didn’t disappear. My physical
appearance had changed. I imagined my eyes were just as hollow as
Darthon’s. The way he stared at me was anything but hollow. He
grinned, and it lit like a hundred stars.

For the first time in my life, Darthon looked
magnificent. My powers even changed my emotions. All of my hate for
the lights began to simmer away, but I turned back into a human
before it could consume me.

A gasp broke from my lungs, and I stumbled
back. I had to grab the bookshelf to keep myself from falling
over.

“So quickly yourself again,” his voice was as
warm as the aftermath of the powers.

“It’s overwhelming,” I dismissed. “I’ll turn
back when I’m needed.”

“Good.” Darthon didn’t step toward me. “Being
a light suits you.” His low whistle broke his sentence apart. “Of
course that will change when Eric dies.” The words were lined with
delight. “You’ll be a full shade again.”

“Can I still be a shade now?” I asked, hoping
I had the ability to shift until the end came.

“Yes,” he answered, but it sounded like a
threat. “Why would you want that?”

“Don’t you think I should lure Eric out?” My
lips curled in a sneer.

Darthon didn’t squint at me this time, but
his eyes moved to my hand. “It hurts you, doesn’t it?”

My ring. I didn’t have to ask him for
clarification. The jewelry was already burning my skin.

“You can take it off,” he suggested, “and
it’ll all be over.”

I stared at him, but gritted my teeth. When
my fingers curled, the pain wasn’t as bad. I kept my hands fisted
to stand the feeling. I would not take it off.

“It will kill him,” Darthon confirmed. “I
figured out how he stayed alive.” But he didn’t know that I was
well aware.

I stepped back, slowly inching away from
Darthon, but the room moved. The walls bent toward me, and the
floors lifted where I stood. Darthon’s section squeaked as it moved
backward.

He stared at the movements. “You can change
it now.” I had caused it all. “But I don’t know why you would put
more distance between us.”

I saw him coming even before he made the
decision. Like a vision, his movements flickered before they even
happened, and I jumped to the side as he lunged at me. He never got
the chance to touch me. The bookshelf fell, and he slammed against
it.

Even as a human, I moved everything. My
powers were beyond his, just like they were beyond Eric’s.

As he stood up, I raised my hand, and a glass
wall shot up from the floor. Darthon hit it, but the wall didn’t
shatter. It pulled and pushed like liquid plastic, and it clung to
his skin like chains.

His face reddened as he shouted, “You picked
me.”

“I didn’t pick anyone.” My fingers parted,
searching the air for the electricity that brought me power. My red
rain was already falling. “I didn’t pick you or Eric, or anyone.”
My voice rumbled out of me. “I picked both of the sects.”

Darthon froze as if I had ordered the realm
to hold him in place. His face didn’t twitch or shift, but I
searched one last time for any sign of his human side. I saw
nothing in his eyes.

“I will teach your people everything you
didn’t when you’re gone,” I promised as I left him behind, knowing
he would find a way to fight in the realm I would eventually call
my home.

49

I left Linda behind. Even though I had
promised her safety, the Dark’s safety had ended. Jessica went back
to the Light realm, and it was confirmed when I arrived at the
shelter. The elders were already suiting up, and fellow shades were
dressing in war gear.

“Eric,” Pierce was the only one who saw me
among the crowd. “Did you hear from her?”

I stared at his attire. Unlike the others, he
was dressed in normal clothes. “No,” I managed. “What
happened?”

Pierce’s shoulders fell as his gaze dropped.
“I was hoping—” He shook his head. “I refuse to get dressed. I
won’t until I see her.”

My best friend—Jessica’s guard—would not give
up on her, and I wouldn’t either. She asked me to trust her, and I
did. I had to.

“She did it for a reason,” I agreed,
searching the crowd. “Where’s my father?”

“Right here.” Somehow, in all the chaos, my
dad had found me, too. “You two need to prepare—”

“Dad,” I said and latched onto his arm before
he could walk away. “She isn’t on their side.”

He pulled away from me, but his eyes closed.
“Just get dressed, Shoman.”

“I won’t,” I called after him. “I’m not
fighting her.”

The entire crowd stopped, and for a
millisecond, I thought it was because of me, but their eyes were
nowhere near me. They stared behind my shoulder. Even Pierce was
frozen.

I spun around and knew what they saw even
before I saw it for myself. The energy had consumed the air—Light
energy—and Jessica wasn’t herself. She had white hair.

“Listen to me,” she started, but it was too
late.

The shades lunged forward. I was the only one
who fought them. I transformed, and the shelter succumbed to the
power I shot out. It blasted everyone away, everyone but
Jessica.

She stood her ground, completely
untouched.

“I trust you,” I managed, knowing I couldn’t
hold everyone off for long. They were already beating against the
barrier I had put up. “I do.”

She didn’t waste any time. She transported
the few feet between us and grabbed my shoulder. “It’s going to
hurt,” she whispered. Despite her transformation, her voice was the
same as her shade one. It was delicate, and so was her touch as it
rose to my neck.

Her fingers clasped the nape of my neck, and
I screamed. I had felt the pain before. It was Darthon’s. He had
placed an illusion inside of me, imbedding it in my flesh. Jessica
was touching that exact flesh, and the spot moved like a metal
plate had been screwed into my spine.

It shattered, breaking into pieces around my
bones, and I collapsed. My barrier did, too.

I couldn’t breathe until Jessica let me go,
and it was only then that I realized my transformation had been
torn apart in the pain. I was human again, and so was Jessica.

“He can’t control you anymore,” she said
right before Luthicer grabbed her by the hair.

“Wait,” I shouted, but no one listened.

Luthicer was already plunging a blade toward
her, but he wasn’t fast enough. She shoved his chest, and a burst
of light exploded between them. The elder fell to the ground, and I
stood up before anyone else could fight Jessica.

“She’s on our side,” I screamed and felt her
hands dig into my back. “Darthon,” I managed to speak his name
before I felt the last burn of his illusion burn away. “I know who
Darthon is.”

I could speak again. I was free, and everyone
finally stopped fighting Jessica. They only stared at us, and I
moved my hand behind my back to hold her hand.

“It’s Robb McLain,” I said. “Darthon is
Robb.”

50

“I’m sorry for hurting you,” Jessica spoke to
Luthicer as he bandaged himself. His chest was covered in a blue
bruise.

“I should be the one apologizing.” He didn’t
look at her as he finished the wrap. “I shouldn’t have attacked
you.”

Jessica fell into the nearest seat. “I didn’t
want to attack you either.”

“Let it go, Jess,” he said, finally looking
at her for a moment. “We all make mistakes.”

She nodded, but put her head in her hands.
Every bit of her was shaking. I laid my hand on her back, but she
didn’t stop. She just grabbed my hand. “So, it’s Robb.”

“Yeah.” The ability to confirm it was
foreign, even though I had already explained it all. Jessica had,
too.

After I shouted out Darthon’s identity, the
entire collection of shades stopped attacking. My father ordered
them to hold back, but he also told them to keep their gear on. The
war was going to happen tonight. It was undeniable. The heavy air
proved it, but we sat in the elder’s room as if we had the luxury
of time to talk about it.

“He will come,” Urte was the only one willing
to speak the truth.

“He can’t come here,” I said. “Kids are
here.” Almost every member was. Even the untrained ones had been
dragged in by their parents. When Jessica had gone back, everyone
had felt it, and panic controlled the crowd.

“I should’ve warned everyone,” Jessica said,
only lifting her face to lay her chin on her hands, “but I knew you
wouldn’t let me go.” She wasn’t wrong. I wouldn’t have allowed it.
“We couldn’t win if Eric was under his control.”

“It was just his voice,” Luthicer
scoffed.

“And he couldn’t tell us who he was,” Jessica
argued. “Now, we can use it against him.”

“How?” Luthicer growled, but his growl died
out. “We can’t set him up. Not now.”

“We can,” she argued. “He doesn’t know
everyone is prepared for war. He doesn’t even know that Eric can
talk—”

“Enough.”

“No.” Jessica stood up. “I went back so we
could fight back.” She practically screamed. “And we can now, but
we have to move quickly.”

Luthicer opened his mouth, but my father laid
a hand on his shoulder, and the half-breed silenced.