The Gathering Dark (26 page)

“Yeah. I can see that. What we really need is a plan. Like, a good plan.”

The conversation they’d had the night before wound through Keira’s thoughts. It had been easier to talk to him in the dark. The morning sun that poured into the room made her feel exposed.

“That would be nice,” she agreed. “Since ‘run like hell’ is going to be impossible to maintain. There must be something we could do. Someone who would be willing to help us over there? What about my dad? I can’t figure out why he never told me I’m a Darkling; why he never said anything about Darkside.”

Walker swallowed. “Your dad’s human. You know that, right?”

“What? But you said my
mom
was human. You said that’s why I was raised here, instead of Darkside!”

“Keira. I thought you’d realized—” He shut his eyes. “Your dad, the man who raised you, is human. But your real father is a Darkling.”

The news crashed into her with such force that the room seemed to tilt around her. Her father wasn’t really her father?

No. No. Oh, God, please no.

Chapter Thirty-Three

“W
HAT?”
T
HE WORD WAS
little more than a whisper.

Walker licked his lower lip. “Keira, someone else, a Darkling, got your mother pregnant. Your dad isn’t your father. I’m sorry.”

All her parents’ fights tumbled around in her memory. No wonder things were so bad between her parents. Her dad knew that she wasn’t his daughter. Or he must suspect, at least. She had a vague memory of him joking about her being the first redhead in their family, and her mother snapping at him to quit.

She shivered. “Do you know who my real father is?” Saying
the words felt like a betrayal. Her
real
father was the one who’d been to every one of her recitals. Who’d checked under her bed when she’d had little-girl nightmares. Who’d gotten choked up when she’d gone to get her driver’s license.
That
was her father.

“Are you hungry?” Walker asked suddenly.

Keira’s vision narrowed until all she saw were his eyes, darting around the room, looking for an escape.

“Why are you changing the subject?” she asked. Her stomach twisted, reminding her that she
was
hungry. That package of cookies the night before had been totally insufficient. She ignored it. “Do you know who my father is?” she asked again.

“I have a guess,” Walker admitted. “But I’m not totally sure.”

“So, he must know I exist. We should find him. Maybe he’ll help us.”

“There are a couple of problems with that,” Walker said softly.

“Oh, yeah? Like what?”

“Like it would mean taking you Darkside, for one. And for another, no one knows exactly who your father is. Your birth records were incomplete—they only discovered the discrepancy after the head of the Experimental Breeding Program disappeared.”

“Why did he disappear?” Keira’s words were careful, her voice measured and even.

Walker crossed the room and knelt in front of Keira. His eyes begged her not to be angry. “He had to. He was supposed
to take you from your mother and bring you back to our world to be raised. But he didn’t. And even when the extermination started, he wouldn’t tell anyone where you were. He claimed to have ‘lost’ you, but no one believed him. He became the most wanted man in all of Darkside.”

Her mouth went dry.

“I think he was your father. I think that’s why he left the records blank. Why he hid you here.”

“They were going to kidnap me?” Keira asked, horrified.

Walker frowned. “It didn’t seem like that. Darklings—they don’t think of humans as equals, Keira. To them, it was like picking up a puppy from the breeder. Humans do that all the time—take dogs away from their mothers. The Darklings saw it the same way.”

Keira shuddered, thinking of the abandoned dogs who died in shelters every day. Her death wouldn’t mean any more than that to the Reformers.

“You were the only Experimental who was ever raised in the human world, Keira. Because of him. And no one’s seen him since. There was some evidence that he crossed between the two worlds a few times during the first years after he went into hiding, but then his trail dried up. The Reformers never found him. And believe me, they searched. Seekers died looking for him. Eventually, everyone realized that he must be . . . ” Walker pressed his lips together, like keeping the word in would make it less true.

“He’s dead,” Keira said flatly. “He’s the only one who knows where I come from, who I
really
am, and he’s dead.”

Walker sat next to her on the bed. “I’m sorry.” He slid his hand through hers. The dark stone that shimmered into view drove Keira’s ache deeper. She’d lost her history before she’d ever really found it.

Even though it brought Darkside closer, she squeezed Walker’s hand. In spite of the sun pouring into the room, a chill wrapped around her. “I need to talk to my mother. I can’t believe she never told me.”

“Keira, he wouldn’t have told her he was a Darkling. And can you really imagine your mother sitting you down and announcing that she’d had an affair?”

The idea of talking about her mom’s sex life was disgusting. “No, I guess not.”

“That doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt. Being without your parents makes the universe feel like a lonelier place,” Walker said.

Keira looked over at him. He’d lost both of his parents. If it hurt this much to be without someone she’d never even
known
, how much pain had Walker been through? She couldn’t imagine.

He cupped the back of her neck. “Maybe I can take some of that away? The universe doesn’t feel so empty since I found you.”

He stared at her. Without taking her eyes from his face, Keira wound her fingers through his.

His hand tightened around the back of her neck in response, and Keira’s stomach dropped. In that one instant, their connection deepened immeasurably. It felt like a free fall.

“I definitely don’t feel empty,” she whispered.

The pull between them was irresistible. It felt wrong not to kiss him, not to create some physical evidence of the way she felt. His lips were so full and so soft and so close.

Walker’s thumb traced the curve of her cheekbone. He leaned in until Keira was dizzy with his nearness.

“I swear to you, the second it’s safe, I am going to get you alone.”

He shifted his weight, sliding her back and lowering her onto the bed. He braced himself above her, his arms framing her head. Keira was vaguely aware that he was very carefully not touching her, but right then, she would almost have traded being found by the guards to feel the press of his weight against her.

“We
are
alone,” she murmured.

He shook his head, growling in a pained way. “You know we can’t. But when we can—” He dipped his head. His lips barely brushed her ear, but the touch sent a sparkling explosion of fireworks through her. It also brought the Darkside ravine back, close enough that Keira could smell wet stone. She closed her eyes, focusing only on the bed beneath her, Walker’s weight above her, and the hot press of his breath against her ear.

“When we
can
,” he whispered, “I am going to kiss you until you catch fire.” For a white-hot second, his teeth caught her
earlobe and Keira gasped. “I am going to make up for every single second we’ve lost. I swear.”

“Oh, my God,” Keira whispered, half-desperate with wanting him. “Then can we please hurry up and get to that part?”

“Good idea,” he said against her neck.

He pushed himself away from her. His cheeks were flushed.

“I need to look at the records again,” he said. “Maybe there’s something there—something I missed. The program notes got pretty cryptic toward the end. Now that I know more about
you
, maybe we can find something that would convince the Reformers to spare you.”

It was too much to wish for, but the possibility still crashed over Keira in a hopeful crescendo. “So, where would we find that sort of information?” she asked.

Walker squirmed. “The Hall of Records. That’s where all of our information is. There are only four halls in all of Darkside, one for each quadrant. They house all the historical information, all the records of births, taxes, scientific programs—everything. They’re the most important places we have, now that the churches have been abandoned.”

“Is it far from here?” Keira asked. She was on her feet, throwing the few things she’d brought into her bag.

“Uh, not really.”

Something in his voice made her stop dead.

“Where is it, Walker?” She searched his face.

“You know that really big building behind your house? The one in Darkside?”

“Yeeeeaaah.” The word stretched between them. If the Hall of Records was anywhere close to her house, it was going to be beyond risky. Her whole house had been swarming with the Reformers’ guards less than twenty-four hours ago.

“Well, that’s it—the Hall of Records.”

“It can’t possibly be safe to go back there,” she said.

Walker rubbed his forehead. “We don’t have much choice. I don’t want to take you with me, but I think it’s more dangerous to leave you alone. We’ll just have to find whatever we can and fast.”

A little crinkle appeared between Walker’s eyebrows. He wasn’t telling her something.

“What’s the catch?” she asked.

His eyes widened. “How . . . ?” He didn’t finish the question.

Keira shot him a rueful grin. “Your poker face isn’t as perfect as you think it is.”

“Probably true. I’ve never gotten to know anyone well enough for it to matter.” He rubbed his hands against the legs of his jeans. “There is a catch. The Experimental records are kept in a restricted section of the Hall of Records. Locked cases. Special permission required.”

“And we don’t have special permission,” Keira guessed.

“Exactly. But we might have a way around that.”

“Like a cape of invisibility?” she joked.

“Like my cousin,” Walker said.

“Smith? But how?”

“Smith works there. He’s a Sorter; like a librarian?”

“So when you said he fixed machines, and that they have machines at the library . . . ”

“I meant the Hall of Records, yes. It’s the closest thing we have to a library. That’s where all of Darkside’s information is stored. Darklings don’t have books, the way you do here. It’s . . . well. You’ll see.”

Keira crossed her arms. “You expect Smith to sneak us into a restricted area to find information that might save my ass?” Keira stared at him. “What are the odds that might actually, oh, I don’t know,
work
?”

“There are reasons for Smith to help me.”

“You mean because of his secret. The fact that he can cross back and forth.”

Walker stared down at the horrible green carpet.

“I think this might be Smith’s big break. It’s his chance to have something to hold over me. He’ll love that. There’s no way I can go tell my aunt that he’s hanging out in Sherwin after this.”

If her life weren’t in imminent danger, Keira might have been bothered by forcing Smith to help them. Actually, she was bothered by it, but she couldn’t afford to say anything. She wasn’t in any position to refuse Smith’s assistance, even if it came from a twisted arm.

“I don’t like doing things this way,” Walker said quietly. “But I don’t have a choice. Please believe me when I tell you that I wish Smith would stay Darkside and leave Susan and everything else in the human world alone. If he’s ever caught, my aunt Holly will never forgive me. Hell, I’ll never forgive myself.” His shoulders sagged with unwanted responsibility. “I don’t like being underhanded. But the only way I can make Smith help us ensure you’re around for your next birthday is by
making
him.”

Keira watched his knuckles whiten with tension. “I understand,” she said. “Then before we go, I just need you to teach me how to cross back and forth.”

Walker nodded. “You’re right. But not here—we’re too far from the car, and the car is our only chance of outrunning the Seekers and the Reformers’ guards.”

“So, where?”

He held out his hand. “Come on.”

Chapter Thirty-Four

T
HE PARKING LOT BEHIND
the hotel was deserted except for a couple of Dumpsters. Walker pulled the car up alongside them and got out. Keira climbed out too, watching as he shaded his eyes from the sun. Beyond the asphalt was an overgrown lot with a faded
FOR SALE
sign in the middle of it. Past that was a stand of scrubby trees. If they stood on the far side of the Dumpsters, there was little chance they’d be seen.

At least, not by any humans.

“This looks pretty good,” he said.

Keira squinted, trying to see Darkside. “Are we out of the ravine?”

Walker laid his hand on the small of her back, and as the pressure of his touch traveled through her, Darkside sprang into view. Keira gasped and swayed toward him. They were out of the ravine, but barely. With the two worlds layered over each other, it looked like the very back of Walker’s Mercedes was hanging over the lip of the chasm. Keira’s inner ear spun with the sensation of simultaneously being at sea level and forty feet above.

“Sorry. I should have warned you that the view might be a little disconcerting.” Walker slid his hand around her waist, wrapping his arm securely across her back.

“Yeah. Well.” Keira cleared her throat, fighting back the vertigo that threatened to bring her to her knees. “Whatever it takes to find out if my . . . my father’s still alive, right?” The word ‘father’ was incredibly difficult to say. “So, how do I cross?” she asked, changing the subject.

Walker pulled his arm away, and while she managed to see Darkside, the details went fuzzy without his touch. It looked like a watercolor rather than a photograph.

Walker bit his lip. “What seemed to work last night was when you really pictured yourself in your living room—the way it smelled and felt.”

Keira frowned. “But I don’t know how Darkside smells. Not really. And everything looks hazy. I can’t see the details.”